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A  HISTORY 


«^UV.Lf.-*^^5^ 


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OF    THE 


PROTESTANT   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH 


IN 


AMERICA. 


BY 


/ 


VS/i  i  Ue^?. 


SAMUEL  LORD  BISHOP  OF  OXFORD. 


NEW-YORK  : 
STANFORD  AND  SWORDS,  137,  BROADAVAT. 


1849. 


3.  R.  M'GOWN,  PRINTER  AND  STERKOTyPER, 
No.  57  ANN-STREET,  NEW-YORK. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


To  the  American  Editor  of  this  volume  it  seems  im- 
portant, that  the  interesting  historical  facts  contained 
in  this  "  Church  History,"  should  be  more  exten- 
sively known  in  this  country.  In  answer  to  the 
question.  How  is  it  that  the  history  of  the  Church 
in  these  United  States  has  been  written  by  a  Prelate 
of  the  Church  in  England  ?  We  may  be  answered, 
that  the  opportunity  afforded  in  England,  to  consult 
the  works  of  the  earlier  writers  upon  America  and 
the  correspondence  of  the  earlier  missionaries  to 
America,  has  been  embraced  by  the  Author  and 
most  laboriously  improved.  He  has  brought  out 
many  facts  and  selected  many  very  interesting  inci- 
dents before  generally  unknown. 

This  cannot  be  called  a  complete  History  of  the 
Church  in  this  country  ;  but  it  approaches  nearer  to 


IV 


it  than  any  other  work  before  published.  The  char- 
acter of  the  various  Bishops  who  have,  after  having 
ruled  over  their  respective  Dioceses,  "  gone  to  their 
rest,"  is  admirably  drawn  out  and  perhaps  with 
more  impartiality  than  would  have  been  done,  by  a 
clergyman  of  our  own  Church.  Members  of  the 
Church  in  this  country  ought  to  feel  under  great 
obligation  to  the  distinguished  Prelate,  who,  amidst 
so  many  cares  and  avocations  has  found  time  to 
compile  this  valuable  work. 

E.  M.  J. 


PREFACE. 


In  giving  the  following  pages  to  the  press,  their  Author 
desires,  in  the  first  place,  to  acknowledge  the  kindness 
which  from  many  quarters,  both  in  America  and  England, 
has  supplied  him  with  the  materials  for  their  composition. 
Never  can  he  forget  the  ready  aid  which  he  has  received 
from  personal  strangers  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
To  particularize  any,  where  he  cannot  enumerate  all,  he 
feels  to  be  impossible.  He  can  only  express  his  earnest 
wish  that  his  volume  were  more  worthy  of  their  several 
contributions;  and  his  hope  that,  in  stating  openly  and 
freely  what  seem  to  him  to  be  the  defects  of  the  organiza- 
tion or  conduct  of  their  body,  he  shall  give  no  needless  pain, 
to  any  one.  Convinced  as  he  is,  that  to  draw  a  veil  over 
such  evils  would  be  disloyalty  to  their  common  cause,  he 
has  felt  under  an  imperative  necessity  of  speaking  openly 
and  fully.  But  it  would  most  deeply  grieve  him,  were 
any  cause  of  offence  to  be  found  in  his  words,  or  anything 
which  could  sever  those  who  should  be  so  closely  united 
as  the  Churchmen  of  England  and  America.  On  the 
subject  to  which  he  here  especially  refers,  namely,  the 
treatment  of  the  colored  race,  the  use  of  the  Church's 
moral  influence  in  its  behalf  is  that  which  alone  he  would 
claim.  And  this  claim  he  advances  under  a  hiunbUng 
sense  of  the  past  deficiencies  of  members  of  his  own  com- 
munion.    Still,  in  their  case   it  must  be  urged,  that  they 


VI  PREFACE. 

were  afar  from  the  sight,  and  therefore  from  the  real 
knowledge,  of  the  evils  of  colonial  life.  Those  evils  would 
'not  have  heen  endured,  had  they  been  daily  submitted  to 
the  eyes  of  the  laity  and  clergy  of  the  English  Church. 

On  one  other  important  point  a  few  words  must  here 
be  added  to  the  following  pages.  Throughout  their  course 
the  Author  has  felt  oppressed  by  the  recurring  question, 
how  he  ought  to  deal  with  those  other  religious  bodies  by 
which  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  North  America 
is  so  abundantly  surrounded.  To  have  entered  into  their 
history  would,  -within  the  limits  of  this  work,  have  been 
absolutely  impossible  ;  and  yet,  to  confine  himself  to  the 
history  of  one  department  only  of  the  vast  host  which 
bears  the  Christian  name,  must  of  necessity  give  to  his 
work  a  narrow  and  one-sided  appearance.  To  escape  this 
imperfection,  he  believes  to  have  been  unavoidable,  and 
he  has  therefore  submitted  to  it ;  writing  the  history,  not 
of  religion,  but  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Only 
would  he  here  protest  against  being  supposed  to  entertain 
any  intention  of  contemptuously  passing  by  the  many  great 
deeds  for  Christ's  truth  wrought  in  that  western  world  by 
the  members  of  other  societies,  or  of  pronouncing  by  the 
way  a  decisive  judgment  on  any  of  the  intricate  questions 
to  which  the  co-existence  of  these  various  bodies  must  give 
birth.  He  has  dealt  with  them  only  as  they  directly  affect 
that  communion  whose  history  he  writes ;  and  in  doing  so, 
he  has  endeavored  to  treat  them  honestly  and  fairly,  al- 
though, from  his  limits,  it  must  be  slightly  and  imperfectly. 

Amongst  those  who  in  this  country  have  assisted  him 
with  valuable  materials,  and  to  whom  he  would  beg  pub- 
licly to  return  his  thanks,  he  may  venture  to  enumerate 
his  father's  early  friend,  Thomas  Clarkson :  the  Rev.  H. 
H.  Norris,  of  Hackney ;  Petty  Vaughan,  Esq.  ;  the  Lord 


PREFACE.  Vll 

Bishop  of  London, — who  most  liberally  allowed  him  access 
to  all  the  Its.  treasures  of  the  Fulham  library ;  the  Rev. 
H.  Caswall, — whose  local  knowledge  made  him  able  to 
revise  those  parts  which  touch  upon  existing  institutions  ; 
and  the  Eev.  Ernest  Hawkins,  f:?ecretary  to  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts. 

To  the  labors  of  that  society  the  following  pages  repeat- 
edly bear  witness.  They  show  on  this  one  stage  how, 
throughout  the  coldness  and  negligence  of  the  last  century, 
when,  i]i  this  land  at  least,  no  other  body  so  made  head 
against  the  general  apathy  as  to  think  of  the  foreign  ad- 
vancement of  the  Gospel  as  a  Christian  duty,  this  venera- 
ble society  ever  followed  in  the  wake  of  our  colonial  exten- 
sion, watched  for  opportunities  of  sowing  the  good  seed, 
labored  ever  noiselessly  and  unobserved  in  this  great  work, 
nurtured  the  faint  beginnings  of  colonial  piety,  and  has 
been,  under  God's  grace,  the  one  first  mstrument  in  pre- 
venting the  upgrowth  of  positive  infideUty,  and  in  promot- 
ing the  existence  and  spread  of  Christianity  throughout 
those  vast  districts  which  make  up  our  colonial  empire — 
the  widest  empire  and  the  greatest  trust  which  God  ever 
committed  to  any  people. 

The  Author  hopes  that  this  may  be,  amongst  others, 
one  effect  of  his  labor,  that,  seeing  what  was  attempted, 
and  what  was  effected,  m  America  by  this  society,  some  of 
his  readers  may  be  aroused  to  consider  what  are  indeed  its 
claims  upon  their  grateful  and  affectionate  support. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

Interest  of  general  subject— Times  of  Queen  Elizabeth — Influence  of  the 
Reformation— Martin  Frobisher — His  first  voya:;e— A  native  kidnapped 
— Second  and  third  voyages — Master  Woltall— Black  ore — Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert — Letters  patent— Religious  purpose  of  colonisation — Prospect  of 
its  late  fulfilment— Gilbert's  second  voyaffe— His  death — Sir  Walter  Ra- 
leigh— His  expeditions— Tobacco — Settlements — Raleigh's  troubles  ;  and 
death— Settlement  of  Virginia — Robert  Hunt — James  Town— Captain 
Smith— Trials  of  the  Settlers- Starving  time— Lord  Delaware— Master 
Bucke— Whittaker— Pochahontas — Early  Laws 15 

CHAPTER  II. 

FROM  1620  TO  1688. 

Virginia  Company- Measures  of  Sir  E.  Sandvs,  Nicholas  Ferrar,  and  others 

Churches  endowed — College  founded — Mr.  Thorpe — Indian  massacre — 

Indian  Conquest — Effects  of  the  massacre — Virginia  in  the  Great  Rebel- 
lion—Loyalty— I. ove  of  the  Church— Effects  of  Puritan  rule — King  Charles 
II.  proclaimed— Enactments  of  Legislature  in  behalf  of  the  Church— Po- 
pish plots  suspected •" 

CHAPTER  in. 

FROM  1608  TO  1688. 

Neighboring  colonies— New-York— New-Jersey— Philadelphia— Carolina- 
Maryland— NewEngland—Its  settlement— Rise  of  Puritanism  in  England 
—Emigration,  to  Leyden,  to  New-England— Piety  of  the  early  Puritans— 
Their  hatred  of  Church  Principles— Severity — Treatment  of  Indians- 
Proselyting  spirit  towards  other  communions 43 

CH.iPTER  IV. 

FROM  1688  TO  1775. 

Sriritual  destitution  of  the  colonies— Exertions  of  the  Bishop  of  London, 
Hon.  Robert  Boyle,  and  others— Drs  Blair  and  Bray  sent  as  commissaries 
to  Virsinia  and  Maryland— New-York  conquered  by  English- Trinity 
Church  endowed— Prosress  of  the  Church  in  New-En-land— Boston  peti- 
tion for  Episcopal  worship— Foundation  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel— Reliirious  stale  iif  the  colonies — Labors  of  the  Mission- 
aries of  the  Venerable  Sooietv— Rev.  Gea  Keith— Violence  of  Quakers- 
Opposition  from  New-England  magistrates— Valo  College— Leading  Con- 

1* 


X  CONTENTS 

PASS. 

gregrationalists  join  the  Church — Progress  of  the  Church  at  Newtown 
under  Mr.  Beach — Violence  of  Congregatioiialists — General  state  of  the 
Church  in  Virginia — Mr.  Whitefifild — Spreading  dissent — Rise  of  Anabap- 
tists in  Virginia — Resistance  to  the  clergy — Low  state  of  the  Church — 
Its  causes — Clergy  dependent  on  their  flocks — Want  of  bishops — Attempts 
to  obtain  an  American  episcopate,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  of  Queen 
Anne — Bishop  BerUeley  opposed  by  Walpole — Supported  by  Archbishop 
Seeker — EfTorls  in  the  colonies — Zeal  of  northern  colonies — Virginia  re- 
f^ises  to  join  in  the  attempt — Causes  of  this  refusal 72 

CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  1775  TO  1783-4. 

Revolutionary  war — Loyalty  of  the  Northern  clergy — Persecution — Vir- 
ginian clergy  generally  loyal — Treated  with  Violence — Thomas  Jefl^erson — 
Zeal  of  the  Anabaptists — Their  hatred  to  the  Church — Repeal  of  all  for- 
mer acts  in  its  favor — Incomes  of  the  clergy  stopped — They  are  stripped 
even  of  the  glebes  and  churches— Conduct  of  the  Methodists — John  Wes- 
ley persuaded  to  consecrate  Dr.  Coke — Depressed  state  of  the  Church  at 
the  end  of  the  war — Religion  at  a  low  ebb — The  revolutionary  war  aeon- 
sequence  of  the  Church  uot  having  been  planted  in  America      .        .        .  131 

CHAPTER  VL 

FROM  1783  TO  1787. 

Depression  of  the  Church — Partie.s — And  Opinions — attempted  organisation 
in  the  south — Mr.  White — Convention.s  in  Virginia  and  Philadelphia — 
Agreement  on  common  piinciples — First  movements  for  general  union — 
General  voluntary  meeting  at  New-York — Want  of  episcopate — Movement 
amongst  the  eastern  clergy — They  elect  Dr.  Seabury  Bishop — He  sails  for 
England — Disappointed  of  consecration  there — Dr.  Berkeley  and  the 
Scotch  bishops — Dr.  Seabury  a]>plies  to  them — Opposition — His  consecra- 
tion— And  return — First  Convention  at  Philadelphia — Difl^erence  of  Opin- 
ion— Dr.  White — Proposed  litursry — Application  to  the  English  prelates 
for  the  apostolical  succession — Their  objections  to  some  changes  in  the 
Liturgy — These  reconsidered — Drs.  White  and  Provoost  embark  for  Eng- 
land— Are  consecrated  at  Lambeth — Return  to  America,  April  1787  .  142 

CHAPTER  VIL 

Coavention  assemblies — Case  of  Dr.  Bass — Bishop  Seabury  joins  the  Con- 
vention— The  Liturgy — First  and  succeeding  consecrations — Period  of 
depression — Its  causes — Ecclesiastical  constitution — Parish — Diocese — 
Convention — Laity  In  Convention — Anglo-Sa.\on  usage — Difficulties  of 
true  organization  in  America — Neglect  of  the  mother-country  .        .        .  166 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

FROM  1801  TO  1811-12. 

Death  and  character  of  Bishop  Seabury — Bishop  White— Bishop  Provoost 
— His  character — Resigns  the  episcopal  jurisdiction — Nomination  and 
consecration  of  Bishop  Moore — His  character — Improvement  of  the  state 
of  the  Church — Maryland — Bishop  Claggctt — Party  Spirit  — Bishop  Clag- 
get  applies  for  a  suffragan — Division  of  convention  in  1812 — Method  of 
.  Electing  a  bishop— The  laity  negative  the  nomination  of  the  clergy— Con- 
vention of  1813 — No  attempt  at  an  election  made — Dr.  Kemp  elected  suf- 
fragan in  1814 — ConsequEBl  party  feuds — Bishop. Clapgett'e  death — Dr. 


CONTENTS.  » 

pAor. 
Kemp  succeeds— His  death— Renewed  contests  as  to  the  Episcopate- 
Bishop  Stone  elected— Tro>i>^'"-i  on  l-.is  dcnth— The  see  vnrant- State  of 
Delaware— No  Bishop— Application  to  Maryland— Refused— Decay  of 
the  Church  there— And  in  Virsinia— Issue  of  tho  Ion?  struggle  with  the 
Anabaptists  and  others— The  glebesconfiscatcd— Prostration  of  the  Church  193 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1811,  12. 

Denth  of  Bp.  Madison— Renewal  of  diocesan  convention— Election  of  Dr. 
Bracken  to  the  episcopate— He  refuses  it— Dr.  Moore  electo-l— His  early 
lifn— Ministerial  success— He  vi.'its  the  diocese— Stirs  ui;  'l^.  .spirit  of 
CliiirchmeM— Revival  of  tlir-  Chiircli— Orowtli  of  Church  pilnoiples— Im- 
prove! canons— Theolosical  seinin:iry  four,  !ed— And  poor  scholars  fund 
—Dr.  Meade  elected  "^iiffrai'an,  with  a  restriction— Cnndiirt  of  the  house 
of  Riiiops— Removal  of  restrictions— Bishop  B.  Monrp  of  New-York  ap- 
plies for  an  assi^t^nt  Bishop- Dr.  .1.  H.  Hol.irt  el"ftei!— His  origin  and 
yoiHh— First  niinisti-rial  charge  in  Pennsylvania— Removes  to  New-York 
His  studies— Publications-Services  in  state  and  <reneral  Convention- 
Controversy  with  Dr.  Mason— Elected  Bishop— Opposition— Bi--Iiop  Pro- 
voo^t's  cl.aim  to  the  bishoprick  of  Ne-.v-York— Disiillowr-l  bv  the  Conve_n- 
tioii— Bishop  White's  treatment  of  Bishop  Hobart— and  high  esteem  for 
him .        .        .        • 


20G 


228 


CHAPTER  X. 

FROM  1810  TO  1890. 

Episcopate  of  Bishop  Hobart— First  two  years  of  opposition— Rise  of  Church 
societies- Effect  upon  the  laity- New  tone  of  feelin'/  and  action— Bishop 
Hobart  with  his  cler?y — His  lan?ua?e  as  to  the  Church  of  Rome — His  visi- 
tations— General  spread  of  the  Church— Incrpa«e  of  bishopries- State  of 

"  the  West" Need  of  missionary  pastors — Pioneers  of  the  Church — T.,ay 

readers— Samuel  Gunn— His  earlv  years— Labors — Removal  to  Ohio- 
Consecration   of  Bishop  Chase— His   life— Founds   Kenyon   College— Its 

buililint.' Students — Their  missionary  excursions — How  received— Funds 

for  domestic  purposes— Jackson  Kemper— Bishop  Hobart's  canon— His 
labors  ainon?st  the  Indians— Oneida  reserves— Eleazer  Williams— His 
history— The  Bishop's  visit 

CHAPTER  XT. 

FiioM  1820  TO  1836. 

American  education— Temper  of  American  Youth— Jealousy  of  hi?h  educa- 
cation- \bsence  of  theolojical  traininsr- Foundation  of  the  GeneralTheo- 
lofieal  Seminary- Its  success— Bishop  Hobart's  connexion  with  K— His 
death— And  character- Bishop  B.  T.  Onderdonk  succeeds— Increase  of 
the  episcopate— Bishops  Raven-croft  ami  Ives  of  North  Carolina— Bishop 
Meade  of  Virsiuia— And  H.  U.  Onderdonk,  assistant  bishop  of  Pennsyl- 
vania—Bishop Chase  of  Ohio— Resigns  his  bishopric— Consecrations  of 
Bishops  M'llvaine  of  Ohio,  Hopkins  of  Vermont.  Smith  of  Kentucky,  and 
Doane  of  New-Jprsev— Chan?e  of  feelin-r  as  to  the  episcopate— Conven- 
tion of  183=>—Bi-hop  Chase  of  Illinois— Division  of  dioceses— New  ortrani- 
zation  of  missionary  board— The  missionary  bishop— Bishop  Kemper  con- 
secratod— Success  of  the  new  plan— Subsequent  growth  of  the  Church— 
Bishop  White'8  illness— Death  and  character 261 


XU  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XII.  PA»«. 

Present  influence  of  the  Episcopal  Church — Rapid  extension — Estimated 
numbers — Clergy — Extent  and  population  of  dioceses — lufluence  on  the 
moral  character  of  the  people — Favorable  symptoms — Sects — Revivals — 
Socinianisni — Sober  tone  of  the  Church — Duelling — Its  character  in  Ame- 
rica— Instance — Church  resists  duels — Canon — Instance — Unfavorable 
Symptoms — Divorce — Marriage — Treatment  of  the  colored  race — Thegreat 
sore  of  America — State  of  negroes  in  the  South,  religious,  moral,  physical 
— Slave-breeding  states — Internal  slave-trade — Duty  of  the  Church  to  testi- 
fy— Her  silence — Participation — Palliation  of  these  evils — State  of  the 
colored  population  in  the  North — Insults — Degradation — Caste — Duty  of 
the  Church — Her  silence — Case  of  General  Theological  Seminary — Alex- 
ander Crummell — Estimate  of  her  influence — Her  small  hold  on  the  poor — 
Architecture  and  arrangement  of  churches — Pew-rent  system — Prospects 
of  the  Church — Danger  from  indiff'erence  to  formal  truth — Chaplains  to 
Congress — Thomas  Jefferson — Romanism — Its  schismatical  rise  in  Ameri- 
ca— Spread  in  the  West — Promises  a  refuge  from  the  sects — Courts  de- 
mocracy— Main  resistance  from  the  Church — How  she  may  be  strong — 
Need  of  adhering  to  her  own  principles — Of  a  high  moral  tone — The  slave- 
question — Favorable  promise — Higher  principles — More  care  of  the  poor 
— Colored  race — Gains  on  the  population — Conclusion 288 


AMERICAN    CHUECH 


THE 


AMERICAN    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Intprest  of  general  subject-Times  of  Queen  Elizabeth— Influence 
of  the  Rerormation-Martin  Frobishei— His  first  voyage-a  na- 
tive kidnapped— Second  and  tliird  voyages— Master  Wo  tall- 
Black  ore— Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert— Letters  patent— Rehgious 
purpose  of  colonisation -Prospect  of  its  late  fulhlment-Gilbert  s 
second  voyage-His  death-Sir  Walter  Raleigh-H.s  expeditions 
—Tobacco— Settlements— Raleigh's  troubles :  and  death— Settle- 
ment of  Virginia— Robert  Hunt— James  Town— Captain  Smith- 
Trials  of  the  Settlers— Starving  time— Lord  Delaware— Master 
Bucke—Wliitaker— Pocahontas— Early  laws. 

Few  subjects  can  be  more  full  of  interest  to  members  of 
the  Church  of  England  than  the  history  of  the  Church  in 
America.  Indeed,  the  Church  in  every  daughter  nation 
has  larcre  claims  on  the  affections  of  the  mother  state ;  and 
other  circumstances  here  combine  to  strengthen  the  strait 
bands  of  Christian  love.  Our  long  neglect  ot  our  bounden 
duty  followed  as  it  has  been  by  God's  merciful  acceptance 
of  our  latest  service,  may  well  call  out  our  affection  for 
this  child  of  our  old  age.  Full  of  interest  is  it  also  to 
watch  the  up-growth  of  such  a  body  amongst  institutions 
so  unlike  our  own  ;  to  note  its  various  nourishment  and 
well-proportioned  increase  in  the  western  wilderness,  into 
-w^hich  it  has  been  given  wings  to  fly. 

Such  a  narrative  is  full  also  of  instruction.  Many  are 
the  grounds  for  self-upbraiding  and  humiliation  which  it 
brings  before  us  ;  and  rich  are  its  lessons  as  to  the  true 
treatment  in  religious  matters  of  the  dependent  colonies  of 
any  Chistian  people. 

The  age  of  Elizabeth,  fertile  in  great  men,  produced 


16  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

especially  great  naval  heroes  :  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
nation  favored  their  production.  The  fierce  hostility  of 
Spain  forced  upon  England  especial  attention  to  her  navy. 
The  service  of  the  sea  had  not  as  yet  grown  into  a  sepa- 
rate profession  ;  to  equip  and  to  command  a  ship  became 
a  common  practice  of  ambitious  courtiers,  and  even  of  in- 
dependent country  gentlemen.  The  rich  plate  fleets  of 
Spain  often  repaid  the  expense  of  fitting  out  an  expedition, 
and  not  seldom  was  a  goodly  inheritance  sold  to  furnish 
forth  the  daring  adventurer.  To  this  inducement  was 
added  the  alluring  hope  of  making  profitable  foreign  set- 
tlements. The  mines  of  Spanish  America  glittered  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  many  an  ardent  Englishman  ;  and  he 
eagerly  exchanged  his  patrimony  here  for  the  hope  of 
those  golden  acres  which  he  expected  to  possess  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  on  the  easy  terms  of  paying  the 
Glueen  the  fifth  part  of  all  precious  metals. 

Other  causes,  moreover,  were  at  work  preparing  the 
way  for  extensive  emigration.  The  reformation  of  religion 
had  restored  to  its  full  vigor  the  national  life  of  England, 
which  even  popery  had  not  been  strong  enough  to  stifle 
utterly  ;  and  one  of  the  first  fruits  of  this  revival  was,  its 
sending  forth  its  race  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  their 
own  land.  This  tendency  to  wander  has  always  marked 
the  Anglo-Saxon  family  ;  and  the  formation  of  a  middle 
class,  by  the  diffusion  of  wealth  and  the  spread  of  mercan- 
tile adventure,  at  once  set  the  current  into  active  motion. 
It  was  accordingly  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  that  the  first 
attempt  was  made  to  found  an  English  colony  on  the 
shores  of  America. 

The  first  steps  which  led  to  the  vast  undertaking 
are  not  a  little  curious.  Among  the  stirring  spirits  of  the 
time  none  adventured  more  in  maritime  exploits  than 
Captain  Martin  Frobisher.  He  "  being  persuaded  of  a 
new  and  nearer  passage  to  Cataya*  than  by  Cape  de 
Buona  Speranza,  which  the  Portuguese  yearly  use,  deter- 
mined with  himself  to  go  and  make  full  proof  thereof  "t 

*  i.  c.  China. 

f  Hackluyt's  Colloctioa  of  Early  Voyages,  vol.  iii.  p.  85. 


MARTIN  FROBISHER.  17 

After  many  delays  he  accordingly  set  forth  upon  the  15th 
of  June,  1576,  in  two  barques  of  twenty  and  twenty-five 
tons  burden,  provisioned  for  twelve  months,  on  this  dan- 
gerous voyage.  Deserted  by  his  second  barque,  this  gal- 
lant man  pushed  on  in  those  unknown  regions,  amidst 
"  cruel  storms  of  snow  and  haile,  great  islands  of  yce,  and 
mighty  deere  that  seemed  to  be  mankinde,  which  ranne  at 
him  so  that  hardly  he  escaped  with  his  life  :"*  until  he 
discovered  the  straits  which  bear  his  name.f  Having  ad- 
vanced so  far,  and  finding  the  cold  still  increasing,  he 
turnetl  his  face  homeward  ;  but  first  being  desirous  to 
bring  thence  some  token  of  his  travel,  he  wrought  what, 
in  the  temper  of  the  times,  is  ternxed  by  his  biographer  "  a 
pretty  policy."  Knowing  that  the  natives  "  greatly  de- 
lighted in  toyes  and  belles,  he  rang  a  pretty  low  bell, 
making  signs  that  he  would  give  him  the  same  who  would 
come  and  fetch  it :  and  because  they  would  not  come 
within  his  danger  for  feare,  he  flung  one  bell  unto  them, 
which  of  purpose  he  threw  short,  that  it  might  fall  into 
the  sea  and  be  lost  ;  and  to  make  them  more  greedy  of 
the  matter,  he  rang  a  louder  bell,  so  that  in  the  end  one 
of  them  came  neere  the  ship  side  to  receive  the  belle,  and 
was  taken  himself ;  for  the  captain  being  readily  provided, 
let  the  bell  fall,  and  caught  the  man  fast,  and  plucked 
him  with  maine  force,  boat  and  all,  into  his  barke  ;  which 
strange  infidell,  whose  like  was  never  scene,  read,  nor 
heard  of  before,  was  a  sufficient  witness  of  the  captains 
farre  and  tedious  travel. "J 

But  the  native  thus  cruelly  kidnapped  was  not  the 
only  specimen  they  gathered.  They  brought  home  also 
"some  floures,  some  greene  grass,  and  one  a  piece  of  blacke 
stone,  much  like  to  a  sea-cole  in  coloure,  which  by  the 
weigrht  seemed  to  be  some  kind  of  metall  or  minerall." 
This  was  "  a  thing  of  no  account  at  first  sight,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  captain  ;"  but  after  his  return  "  it  fortuned 
a  gentlewoman,  one   of  the  adventurers  wives,  to  have  a 

»  Hackluyt,  vol.  iii.  pp.  67,  68,  87. 

f  Frobisher's  Straits,  lying  to  the  north  of  Cape  Farewell  and 
West  Greenland,  long.  42  W.,  lat.  63  N, 
t  Hackluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  87. 


18  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

piece  thereof,  which  by  chance  she  threw  and  burned  in. 
the  fire  so  long,  that  at  the  length  being  taken  forth  and 
quenched  iu  a  little  vmegar,  it  glistered  with  a  bright 
marqiiesset  of  gold  ;"  wliereupon,  having  been  adjivlged  by 
certain  goldfiners  in  London  "  to  holde  golde,  and  that  very 
nobly  for  the  quantity,"  it  inflamed  the  public  mind  with 
notions  of  the  great  wealth  of  those  parts  ;  and  in  the  hope 
of  rivalling  the  mines  of  Peru,  another  expedition  was 
shortly  afterwards  set  forth. 

The  captain's  "  special  commission"  on  this  voyage  was 
directed  to  the  searching  for  this  golden  ore  ;  and  so  high 
was  expectation  raised,  that  he  was  admitted,  before  he 
sailed,  into  the  Glueen's  presence  ;  and  after  "  kissing  her 
highness'  hand,  with  gracious  countenance  and  comforta- 
ble words,  departed  towards  his  charge."  He  sailed  with 
three  ships  on  May  26th,  1577,  hoping  to  bring  home  vast 
spoils  of  gold  from  the  frozen  shores  of  the  meta  incognita. 
On  reaching  this  inhospitable  coast,  these  expectations  were 
increased  by  their  finding  "  spiders,  which,  as  many  affirm, 
are  signes  of  great  store  of  gold,"*  and  by  the  assurance 
that  streams  flowed  into  the  sea  beneath  the  frozen  surface, 
"  by  which  the  earth  within  is  kept  Avarmer,  and  springs 
have  their  recourse,  which  is  the  only  nutriment  of  golde 
and  minerals."! 

When,  therefore,  the  expedition  reached  the  straits,  no 
new  discoveries  were  attempted  ;  but  having,  "  with  five 
poore  miners  and  the  help  of  a  few  gentlemen  and  sol- 
diers," who  labored  so  hard  that,  by  "  overstraining,  they 
received  hurts  not  a  little  dangerous,"  "  reasonably  well 
filled  their  shippes,"  they  set  sail  with  about  200  tons  of 
ore,  "  every  man  therewithal  well  comforted,"  and  reached 
home  safely  on  the  23d  day  of  September. 

The  captain  of  the  returning  expedition  repaired  to 
Windsor,  "  to  advertise  her  Majesty  of  his  prosperous  pro- 
ceedings." These  were  considered  of  so  promising  a  cha- 
racter, that  a  larger  expedition  was  soon  planned,  which 
was  to  carry  out  a  "  number  of  chosen  soldiers  and  discreet 
men,  who  should  be  assigned  to  inhabit  there."     For  this 

*  Hackluyt,  vol.  iii.    pp.  63,  88.  t  Ibid.  p.  64. 


EARLY    VOYAGES.  19 

purpose  forty  mariners,  thirty  miners,  and  thirty  soldiers, 
besides  gentlemen,  goldfmers,  bakers,  carpenters,  and  other 
necessary  persons,  were  embarked  on  board  of  "  fifteen  sayle 
of  good  ships,"  which  set  oft'  from  Harwich  on  the  31st  of 
May. 

The  name  of  one  other  adventurer  must  not  be  left  un- 
recorded, since  a  higher  object  than  the  thirst  of  gold  led 
him  to  face  the  dangers  of  the  frozen  sea.  This  was  one 
"  Master  Wolfall.  a  learned  man,  appointed  by  her  Majesty's 
council  to  be  their  minister  and  preacher,  who,  being  well 
seated  and  settled  at  home  in  his  owne  countrey,  with  a 
good  and  large  living,  having  a  good  honest  woman  to  wile 
and  very  towardly  children,  being  of  good  reputation 
amongst  the  best,  refused  not  to  take  in  hand  this  painfull 
voyage,  for  the  only  care  he  had  to  save  soules  and  to  re- 
form those  infidels,  if  it  were  possible,  to  Christianitie."* 

Frobisher  again  acted  as  admiral  ;  but  the  season  was 
less  favorable  than  it  had  been  in  former  years.  The  straits 
were  closed  ;  and  they  were  "  forced  many  times  to  stemme 
and  strike  great  rocks  of  yce,  and  so,  as  it  were,  make  way 
through  mighty  mountaines."  The  icebergs  were  so  vast, 
that,  under  the  action  of  the  sun,  their  tops  melted  and 
poured  do-vni  streams  "  which  made  a  pretie  brooke,  able 
to  drive  a  mill."  One  bark  was  struck  by  such  a  fl.oating 
island,  and  "  sunk  down  therewith  in  the  sight  of  the  whole 
fleete  ;"  whilst  the  rest  "were  faine  to  submit  themselves 
and  their  ships  to  the  mercy  of  the  unmercyful  yce,  strength- 
ening the  sides  of  their  ships  with  juncks  of  cables,  beds, 
mastes,  plankes,  and  such  like,  which  being  hanged  over- 
board, on  the  sides  of  their  ships,  might  the  better  defend 
them  from  the  outrageous  sway  and  stroke  of  the  said  yce."t 
"The  brunt,"  however,  "of  these  so  great  and  extreme 
dangers,  the  painfull  mariners  and  poore  miners  overcame," 
and  about  the  beginning  of  Augu.st,  they  reached  their 
former  harbor  in  safety  ;  for  which  "  they  highly  praysed 
God,  and  altogether,  upon  their  knees,  gave  Him  due, 
humble,  and  heartie  thanks."  Upon  such  occasions, 
"  Master  Wolfall  celebrated  a  communion  upon  land,  at 

*  Hackluyt,  vol  iii.  p.  116.         f  Hackluyt,  vol.  ili.  p  109,  <tc. 


20  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  partaking  whereof  was  the  captaine  and  many  other 
gentlemen,  and  souldiers,  mariners,  and  miners,  with  him. 
The  celebration  of  the  Divine  mystery  was  the  first  signe, 
seale,  and  confirmation  of  Christ's  name,  death,  and  pas- 
sion ever  knowen  in  these  quarters." 

But  it  was  soon  found  that  the  main  object  of  the  ex- 
pedition must  be  abandoned.  The  fear  of  death  from  cold 
and  hunger  possessed  those  who  were  selected  to  remain, 
and  they  threatened  a  mutiny.  In  the  quaint  language  of 
their  historian,  they  did  "greatly  feare  being  driven  to  seek 
sowre  sallets  amongst  the  cold  cliffs  ;"  and  it  was  at  length 
resolved  that  they  should  defer  the  intended  settlement 
until  another  year,  and  return  home,  laden  with  the  black 
ore  which  promised  gold.  When  this  delusion  was  dis- 
covered we  are  not  told ;  but  after  tliis  voyage,  the  "black 
ore"  is  never  mentioned  farther. 

Such  were  the  first  attempts  at  forming  an  English 
settlement  in  America ;  fruitless  in  themselves,  and  yet 
preparing  the  way  for  wiser  and  more  successful  efforts. 
Men  with  nobler  aims  than  finding  ore  of  gold  were  soon 
engaged  in  the  work.  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  himself  a 
courtier  of  Q,ueen  Elizabeth,  and  nearly  connected  with 
that  "prince  of  courtesy,"  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  was  "the 
first  of  our  nation  that  caused  people  to  erect  an  habitation 
and  government  in  these  countreys."  Instead  of  seeking 
to  discover  mines  and  acquire  great  riches  suddenly,  he 
desired  "to  prosecute  effectually  the  full  possession  of  these 
so  ample  and  pleasant  countreys  for  the  crown  and  people 
of  England."  Amidst  the  motives  given  for  this  his  so 
"  virtuous  and  heroical  minde,"  are  "  the  honor  of  God, 
compassion  of  poore  infidels  captived  by  the  devil  (it 
seeming  probable  that  God  hath  reserved  these  Gentiles  to 
be  reduced  into  Christian  civility  by  the  English  nation), 
advancement  of  his  honest  and  well-disposed  countrymen 
willing  to  accompany  him  in  such  honorable  actions,  and 
reliefe  of  sundry  people  within  this  realme  distressed." 

These  were  great  and  noble  ends,  and  they  were  not 
lightly  undertaken ;  he  knew  that  "  the  carriage  of  God's 
word  into  those  very  mighty  and  vast  countreys  was  a  high 


RELIGIOUS    PURPOSE    OF    COLONIZATION.  21 

and  excellent  matter,  likely  to  excite  Grod's  heavy  judg- 
ments if  it  were  intermeddled  in  with  base  purposes." 

His  preparations  were  suitable  to  these  convictions. 
He  sacrificed  the  bulk  of  his  fortune  at  home,  in  order  to 
complete  the  equipment  of  his  ships  ;  and  gathered  a  nu- 
merous party  of  volunteers  to  settle  this  new  land.  The 
letters  patent,  which  were  granted  to  him  by  the  Q,ueen, 
proceed  upon  the  supposition,  that  the  spread  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  amongst  the  natives  justified  such  settlements. 
His  patent  granted  him  "free  power  and  liberty  to  discover 
all  such  HEATHEN  LANDS  as  Were  not  actually  possessed  by 
any  Christian  prince  or  people."  To  his  settlers  were 
secured  the  rights  of  Englishmen  ;  whilst  to  himself  was 
assigned  the  sole  jurisdiction,  civil  and  military,  of  the 
country  witliin  200  leagues  of  his  settlement,  "  provided 
always,  that  the  statutes  he  devized  should  be,  as  near  as 
conveniently  might,  agreeable  to  the  laws  and  policy  of 
England  ;  and  provided  also,  that  they  be  not  against  the 
true  Christian  faith  professed  in  the  Church  of  England." 

The  most  marked  feature  of  the  whole  adventure  is 
this  repeated  recognition  of  the  making  known  the  faith 
of  Christ  as  its  leading  object  :  and  far  as  after  years 
fell  below  these  early  aspirations,  and  long,  therefore, 
as  this  blessed  end  has  been  deferred,  we  at  least  who 
look  across  the  broad  Atlantic  to  the  orderly  and 
happy  increase  of  the  daughter  Church,  are  allowed  to 
witness  much  of  its  completion.  Few  sights  can  call 
more  loudly  for  deep  gratitude  to  God.  Our  own  peculiar 
situation  must  make  us  watch  with  an  unusual  love  the 
welfare  of  this  body ;  for,  as  an  independent  national  com- 
munion, this  is  our  only  ofi'spring  ;  and  we  are  separated 
more  or  less  from  all  around  us.  Old  divisions,  centuries 
ago,  have  parted  widely  the  East  from  the  West ;  whilst, 
nearer  home,  the  deep  pollutions  and  schismatical  violence 
of  Rome  have  rudely  shivered  the  visible  unity  of  Christen- 
dom ;  dividing  us  through  our  recovered  purity  of  doctrine 
from  all  in  union  with  herself,  and  leading  to  our  separa- 
tion from  the  mass  of  the  reformed  communions  throusfh 
that  want  of  apostolic  order  with  which  the  clinging  curse 
of  her  old  corruption  has  afflicted  them.     There  are  few 


22  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

sadder  thoughts  for  painful  hearts  than  those  which  spring 
from  the  consideration  of  these  multiphed  divisions.  Those 
who  remember  that  their  Lord's  last  prayer  for  His  dis- 
ciples was,  that  "  they  all  might  be  one,"  must  long  earn- 
estly for  that  time  when  in  visible  oneness,  "the  Holy 
Church  throughout  all  the  world  shall  acknowledge  Him." 
They  must  weep  for  the  remembrance  of  those  early  ages, 
when  those  that  believed  in  Christ  in  different  lands  were 
all  seen  by  the  joints  of  the  common  episcopate  to  be  of 
one  body  and  in  communion  with  each  other. 

How  our  present  divisions  can  be  healed,  and  the  bless- 
ing of  visible  unity  again  be  restored  to  the  Church,  the 
most  sanguine  specvilations  cannot  forecast.  But  the  first 
great  obstacle  which  bars  all  progress  towards  it  is,  the  fear- 
ful error,  that  the  difierent  members  of  the  Church  must 
find  their  union  with  each  other  through  union  Math  the  see 
of  Rome.  For  this  is,  indeed,  to  deny  the  presence  of  Christ 
with  His  Church,  which  is  her  true  glory  :  since  that  pre- 
sence would  make  her  everywhere  a  centre  to  herself,  and 
would  unite  her  several  parts  between  themselves  by  their 
common  union  with  Him.  This,  therefore,  exalts  into  the 
place  of  Christ  that  which  they  fondly  name  "  the  Holy 
See,"  and  makes  the  Church  the  representative  of  an 
absent,  instead  of  the  instrument  for  conveying  to  each 
soul  the  mysterious  presence  of  an  unseen  Saviour. 

This  one  delusion  must  prevent  our  ever  desiring 
any  union  with  Rome.  For  it  is  not  merely  that  her 
creed  is  defaced  with  human  additions,  or  her  practice 
fallen  and  corrupt  on  separate  points  :  these  we  might 
hope  to  see  one  by  one  abandoned  or  reformed,  until  the 
time  might  come  when  we  would  be  again  united  with 
her.  But  this  cannot  be  until  this  master-deceit  is  alto- 
gether thrown  aside ;  until  she  shall  cease  to  exalt  the 
Church,  as  she  designates  her  own  communion,  into  the 
place  of  Christ,  and  to  require  oneness  with  it,  as  the  con- 
dition of  union  with  her  Lord. 

Most  unlike  this  was  the  union  of  the  earliest  times  ; 
when,  with  no  professed  visible  centre  of  unity,  each  dio- 
cese, under  its  own  bishop,  was  a  free  and  equal  member 
of  the  common  body  ;  and   all  was  gathered  into  unity 


Sm    HUMPHREY    GH^BERT.  23 

under  one  Head — their  unseen  but  present  Saviour.  The 
best  promise  of  such  a  restoration  is  in  the  wide-spread  and 
intimate  connexion  of  those  branches  of  the  Church  which 
are  reformed  hi  doctrine,  and  apostohcal  in  disciphne. 

On  every  ground,  therefore,  v.e  must  needs  look  with 
more  than  common  interest  upon  the  daughter-communion 
of  the  West.  This  is  "the  seed  the  Lord  hath  given  us  ;" 
these  are  the  cliildren  of  her  who  was  too  long  barren.  In 
our  intercourse  with  them  we  may  return  to  the  happy 
condition  of  primitive  times,  when  the  people  of  Christ, 
though  in  various  coimtries  and  under  different  rules,  made 
up  but  one  body,  and  lived  in  the  daily  and  perpetual  in- 
terchange of  acts  of  Christian  brotherhood.  Such  a  fellow- 
ship with  distant  countries  we  shall  find  the  best  argument 
against  the  specious  show  of  Roman  unity,  and  one  great 
safeguard  for  our  people  against  its  allurements. 

In  this  connexion,  therefore,  it  is  full  of  interest  to 
trace  back  our  first  national  attempts  at  founding  colonies 
to  the  spirit  of  the  reformation ;  to  find  that  we  owe,  in 
no  slight  measure,  our  maritime  supremacy  and  wide  colo- 
nial empire  to  the  same  true-hearted  martyrs  who,  under 
God,  bequeathed  to  us,  by  their  witness  and  their  blood, 
our  English  Bible  and  reformed  communion. 

The  first  expedition  was  designed  in  strict  accordance 
with  the  royal  charter  ;  but  when  just  on  the  eve  of 
sailing,  dissension  broke  up  the  band.  Nothing  daunted, 
however,  the  gallant  Sir  Humphrey  still  set  forth,  with  a 
small  company  of  faitliful  adherents.  Of  the  adventures 
of  tliis  voyage  there  is  scarcely  any  record.  Its  issue  was 
unfortunate  ;  mainly,  as  it  is  beUeved,  from  a  conflict 
with  the  Spaniards,  when,  in  a  "  dangerous  sea-fight, 
many  of  his  company  were  slain,  and  his  ships  therewith 
also  sore  battered  and  disabled."* 

Five  years  elapsed  before  any  fresh  expedition  was 
fitted  out  ;  but  in  1 585  the  approaching  expiration  of  his 
patent,  which  was  to  last  but  six  years  unless  some  set- 
tlement was  efiected,  spurred  him  on  to  one  more  effort. 
The  sale  of  all  his  landed  propery,  with  the  assistance  of 

*  HoUinshed's  Chronicles,  vol.  ii.  fol.  1586,  epist  ded. 


24  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

other  wealthy  adventurers,  enabled  him  to  fit  up  two 
ships  and  three  small  barques,  with  which  he  set  forth  to 
colonise  the  new  world.  He  sailed  with  the  highest  ex- 
pectations. The  haughty  Elizabeth,  though  she  would 
not  share  in  the  risk  of  the  undertaking,  condescended  to 
bestow  on  him  a  golden  anchor,  in  proof  of  her  esteem  ; 
and  Parmenius,  an  Hungarian  scholar,  went  with  him  to 
chronicle  his  voyage.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic  safely ;  and 
having  reached  the  harbor  of  St.  John's,  Newfoundland — 
even  then  a  fishing-station  where  thirty-six  sail  of  all  na- 
tions were  assembled — he  took  possession  of  the  territory, 
in  spite  of  opposition,  in  his  sovereign's  name.  Here  a 
Saxon  "mineral  man,"  who  formed  part  of  his  company, 
assured  him,  "  on  the  peril  of  his  life,"  that  an  ore  he  had 
discovered  was  nothing  else  than  silver,  which  "  is  gene- 
rally found  in  cold  climates."*  But  Gilbert  was  above 
the  low  temptations  of  avarice.  His  views  were  of  a  no- 
bler kind  ;  and,  ordering  his  "  mineral  man"  to  guard 
sacredly  the  secret,  he  resolved  to  prosecute  a  full  exami- 
nation of  the  southern  coast.  Had  his  success  equalled 
his  resolution,  he  might  have  been  the  first  settler  of  the 
United  States  ;  but  the  weather,  the  dangers  of  the  coast, 
and  the  restless  temper  of  his  crews,  all  conspired  against 
him.  Deserted  by  two  of  his  captains  and  many  of  his 
men,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  one  ship  behind  ;  and  him- 
self commanding  one  of  his  barques,  the  Squirrel,  he  steered 
southward  with  it  and  two  of  his  remaining  ships.  They 
were  soon  entangled  amongst  shoals  and  shallows  ;  and 
losing  one  ship  with  almost  all  its  crew,  including  the 
"  mineral  man"  and  the  Hungarian  scholar,  Gilbert  was 
forced,  most  unwillingly,  to  turn  his  course  homeward. 
His  own  little  barque  was  ill  suited  for  the  violence  of  the 
open  sea ;  but  he  would  not  forsake  his  comrades.  On 
the  voyage  the  storms  grew  "  more  dangerous,"  and  he 
was  pressed  to  come  on  board  the  larger  vessel.  "We  are 
as  near  to  heaven  by  sea  as  by  land,"  was  the  answer  of 
the  gallant  man.  But  he  could  not  save  the  crew  he 
would  not  leave.     That  same  night,  as  he  led  the  way,  his 

*  Harris. 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH.  25 

ccmpanions  in  the  large  vessel  saw  the  lights  of  his  barque 
suddenly  extinguished  :  she  had  sunk  utterly  with  all  on 
board. 

Disappointment  could  not  damp  the  spirit  which  was 
kindled  ;  and  (Tilbert  found  a  worthy  successor  in  his  half- 
brother,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  In  the  following  March 
(1581)  he  obtained  a  patent,  and  sent  forth  two  well-ap- 
pointed vessels,  which  sailed  at  once  to  the  coast  of  Caro- 
lina. Raleigh  was  too  much  engaged  at  court  to  lead  the 
expedition  ;  and  his  commanders,  who  seem  to  have  been, 
men  of  no  mark,  only  landed  to  take  possession  of  the  soil, 
and  then  returned  to  spread  abroad  in  England  the  fame 
of  the  paradise  which  they  had  seen. 

Charmed  with  these  descriptions,  Elizabeth  bestowed 
upon  the  new  country,  as  a  record  of  herself,  the  title  of 
Virginia ;  and  Raleigh  sent  out,  in  the  foUowuig  year, 
seven  vessels,  manned  with  more  tlian  100  colonists.  But 
again  the  incapacity  of  their  commanders  disappointed  all 
liis  hopes.  Tlie  resources  of  the  expedition  were  wasted 
in  a  fruitless  search  for  mines  of  gold,  until,  at  length,  fif- 
teen men  being  left  behind  to  guard  the  island  of  Roanoke, 
on  the  shores  of  what  is  now  known  as  Xorth  Carolina, 
the  rest  of  the  intended  colony  returned  to  England. 
Amongst  these  were  some  A\'ho  had  noted  carefully  the 
natural  advantages  of  the  country  they  had  visited,  and 
their  report  kept  alive  the  spirit  of  adventure.  It  is  not  a 
little  curious  to  review  their  discoveries.  One  of  them 
was  the  value  of  the  tuberous  roots  of  the  potato  ;  and 
the  other  is  thus  stated  by  Thomas  Hariot,  "a  man  of 
learning,  and  a  very  observing  person,  a  domestick  of  Sir 
Walter's,  and  highly  in  his  patron's  friendship." — "  There 
is  an  herb  which  is  sowed  apart  by  itself,  and  is  called  by 
the  natives  uppowoc.  The  leaves  thereof  being  dried  and 
brought  into  powder,  they  use  to  take  the  fume  or  smoke 
thereof  by  sucking  it  through  pipes  made  of  clay,  into 
their  stomach  or  head  :  from  whence  it  purgeth  super- 
fiueous  fleame,  and  other  grosse  huinores,  and  openeth  all 
the  pores  of  the  body  ;  .  .  .  .  whereby  their  bodies  are 
notably  preserved  in  health.  This  uppowoc  is  of  so  pre- 
cious estimation  amongst  them,  that  they  tliinke  their  gods 
2 


26  AMERICAN    CHUKCH. 

are  marvellously  delighted  therewith  ;  whereupon  some- 
time they  make  hallowed  fires,  and  cast  some  of  the  pow- 
der thereon  for  a  sacrifice  :  being  in  a  storme  upon  the 
waters,  to  pacify  their  gods  they  caste  some  therein  and 
into  the  aire ;  also,  after  an  escape  of  danger,  they  caste 
some  into  the  aire  likewise  :  but  all  done  with  strange 
gestures,  stamping,  sometime  dancing,  clapping  of  hands, 
holding  up  of  hands,  and  staring  up  into  the  heavens,  uttering 
therewithall  and  chattering  stransre  words  and  noises.  We 
ourselves,  during  the  time  we  were  there,  used  to  sucke  it 
after  their  manner,  as  also  since  our  return,  and  have 
found  many  rare  and  wonderfull  experiments  of  the  ver- 
tues  thereof :  of  which  the  relation  would  require  a  volume 
by  itself :  the  use  of  it  by  so  many  of  late,  men  and  wo- 
men of  great  calling,  as  els,  and  some  learned  physicians 
also,  is  sufficient  witnessc."* 

One  result  followed  from  tliis  voyage.  Raleigh  learned 
from  it  to  look  to  agricultural  produce  as  the  staple  of  his 
intended  colony.  In  the  next  spring  a  fleet  of  transports 
sailed,  carrying  out  a  numerous  band  of  emigrants,  who, 
with  their  wives  and  families,  adventured  themselves  to 
settle  in  this  new  world.  They  landed  upon  the  island  of 
Roanoke,  where,  as  an  evil  omen,  they  found  nothing  but 
the  scattered  bones  of  their  unhappy  predecessors.  There, 
however,  they  founded  the  city  of  Raleigh ;  and  here  was 
born  the  first  Anglo-American,  the  grand-daughter  of 
Raleigh's  governor  ;  Virginia  Dare.f 

But  America  was  not  as  yet  to  be  tenanted  by  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race.  As  the  summer  closed,  the  colonists 
looked  homeward  v/ith  anxious  longing,  and  began  to  fear 
that  they  had  been  forgotten.     By  passionate  entreaties 

*  Hackluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  831.  Harlot.  "It  is  related,"  says  the 
historian  of  Virginia,  "  that  a  country  servant  of  Sir  Walter's  bring- 
ing him  a  tankard  of  ale  into  his  study  as  he  was  intently  engaged 
at  his  book,  smoking  a  pipe  of  tobacco,  the  fellow  was  so  fright- 
ened at  seeing  the  smoke  reek  out  of  his  mouth,  that  he  threw  the 
ale  into  his  face  in  order  to  extinguish  the  fire,  and  ran  down  stairs 
alarming  the  family,  and  crying  out  his  master  was  on  fire,  and,  be- 
fore they  coulci  get  up,  would  be  burnt  to  ashes." 
t   Stith's  History  of  Virginia. 


TREATMENT    OF    RALEIGH.  27 

they  forced  their  governor  to  an  ixnwilUng  return  on  their 
behalf.  He  found  England  gathering  up  her  energies  to 
repel  the  invincible  armada.  All  communication  with  the 
new  colony  was  for  a  season  suspended  ;  and  when  the 
storm  had  cleared  away,  and  Raleigh  sent  again  to  visit 
his  settlement,  no  trace  of  the  mihappy  settlers  could  be 
found.  Six  times,  with  decreasing  hopes,  but  with  uncon- 
quered  resolution,  did  this  great  man  despatch  expeditions, 
on  the  same  errand,  till  his  fortune  was  expended  in  the 
fruitless  search.  With  the  accession  of  King  James  in 
1603,  fresh  misfortunes  crowded  upon  his  declining  years. 
On  a  charge  of  intending  to  change  the  succession  to  the 
crown,  he  was  tried  for  high  treason  on  most  improbable 
evidence,  convicted,  and  condemned  to  die.  This  sentence 
was  not  then  executed  ;  but  for  twelve  years,  in  spite  of 
the  friendship  of  Prince  Henry,  who  indignantly  declared 
that  "  no  king  but  his  father  would  keep  such  a  bird  in  a 
cage,"  he  was  left  to  luiger  m  the  Tower.  In  1G16  he 
was  discharged  ;  and,  still  bent  upon  his  old  plans,  he 
sacrificed  all  his  remaining  property,  even  to  his  plate,  to 
fit  out  one  more  expedition  to  the  west.  Its  issue  was 
altogether  disastrous.  He  lost  all  that  he  had  adventured  ; 
and,  far  beyond  all  other  losses,  he  saw  his  eldest  son  fall 
during  its  course.  A  letter  to  his  wife  after  this  event 
strikingly  displays  his  character  ; — "  I  was  loth  to  \vrite," 
he  says,  "  because  I  know  not  how  to  comfort  you  ;  and 
God  knows  I  never  knew  what  sorrow  meant  till  now. 
All  that  I  can  say  to  you  is,  that  you  must  obey  the  will 
and  pro\'idence  of  God,  and  remember  that  the  Gtueen's 
majesty  bore  the  loss  of  Prince  Henry  with  a  magnanimous 
heart.  Comfort  your  heart,  dearest  Bess ;  I  shall  sorrow 
for  us  both ;  and  I  shall  sorrow  the  less  because  I  have 
not  long  to  sorrow,  because  not  long  to  live.  The  Lord 
bless  and  comfort  you,  that  you  may  bear  patiently  the 
death  of  your  most  valiant  son." 

The  prediction  which  closed  this  letter  did  not  wait 
long  for  its  fulfilment.  He  wa?  arrested  immediately  on 
landing,  and  first  accused  of  exceeding  his  commission  in 
tliis  voyage.  Tliis  pretext,  however,  proved  too  shallow 
to  justify  liis  execution  ;  and  as  nothing  less  would  satisfy 


28  AMERICAN    CHURCH, 

his  enemies,  his  old  sentence  was  revived,  and  under  that 
he  sufiered  pubUcly,  October  29,  1618. 

But  the  great  vi^ork  in  which  he  had  been  a  pioneer 
was  now  about  to  be  accomphshed.  The  various  expedi- 
tions he  had  manned  kept  ixp  a  constant  intercourse  be- 
tween America  and  England ;  and  in  1606,  anew  company 
applied  for  and  obtained  from  James  I.  a  charter  for  the 
settling  of  Virginia.  The  names  of  two  knights,  several 
gentlemen,  and  Richard  Hackluyt,  clerk,  prebendary  of 
Westminster,  appear  in  this  document. 

This  design  included  the  establishment  of  a  northern 
and  southern  colony ;  and  amidst  "the  articles,  instructions, 
and  orders"  of  the  charter,  provision  was  made  for  the  due 
carrying  out  of  that  which  is  the  highest  end  of  every 
Christian  colony.  For  it  is  expressly  ordered,  that  "  the 
said  presidents,  councils,  and  ministers  should  provide  that 
the  true  word  and  service  of  God  be  preached,  planted, 
and  used,  according  to  the  rites  and  doctrine  of  the  Church 
of  England,  not  only  in  the  said  colonies,  but  also,  as  much 
as  might  be,  amongst  the  savages  bordering  upon  them ;" 
and  "  that  all  persons  should  kindly  treat  the  savage  and 
heathen  people  in  those  parts,  and  use  all  proper  means  to 
draw  them  to  the  true  service  and  knowledge  of  God."* 

This  expedition  sailed  upon  the  19th  of  December,  1606, 
and  reached  Cape  Henry,  in  Virginia,  on  the  26th  of  April, 
1607.  Their  voyage  had  been  tedious  and  dangerous  ;  and 
would  have  been  absolutely  ruined  by  internal  disagree- 
ment, but  for  the  healing  influence  of  the  Rev.  Robert 
Hunt,  a  priest  of  the  English  Church,  Avho,  as  tlieir  first 
chaplain,  accompanied  the  expedition.  Happy  were  they 
in  the  choice  of  this  good  man,  who  went  forth  to  the 
strange  land  with  all  the  zeal  and  earnestness  of  apostolic 
times.  "  Six  weekes,"  says  one  of  the  party,t  "  wee  were 
kept  in  sight  of  England  by  unprosperous  winds  ;  all  which 
time  Mr.  Hunt,  our  preacher,  was  so  weake  and  sicke  that 
few  expected  his  recoverie  :  yet  although  wee  were  but  ten 
or  twelve  miles  from  his  habitation  (the  time  wee  were 
in  the  Downes),  and  notwithstanding  the  stormy  weather, 

*  Stith,  b.  ii.  pp.  37,  40,  f  Purchas'e  Pilgrims,  p.  1705, 


EARLIEST    SETTLEJIENT.  29 

nor  the  scandalous  impntation  (of  some  few,  little  better 
than  atheists,  of  the  greatest  rank  amongst  us)  suggested 
ao^ainst  him,  all  this  could  never  force  from  him  so  much 
as  a  seeming  desire  to  leave  the  busniesse,  but  preferred 
the  service  of  God,  in  so  good  a  voyage,  before  any  alfec- 
tion  to  contest  with  his  godlesse  foes,  w^hose  disastrous  de- 
signs had  even  then  overthrownc  the  business,  had  he  not, 
with  the  water  of  patience  and  his  godly  exhortations  (but 
chiefly  by  his  true  devoted  example),  quenched  these  flames 
of  envy  and  dissension." 

Fresh  troubles  broke  out  in  the  little  band  as  soon  as 
they  arrived,  when  again  his  influence  alone  healed  the 
division  ;  and  he  had  the  joy  of  administering  the  holy 
eucharist  to  the  united  company  upon  the  14th  of  May, 
1607,  the  day  after  their  first  landing.  Here,  on  a  penui- 
sula,  upon  the  northern  shore  of  James  River,  was  sown 
the  first  seed  of  Englishmen,  M'ho  were  in  after  years  to 
grow  and  midtiply  into  the  great  and  numerous  American 
people.  It  was  an  omen  for  good,  that  almost  their  first 
act  on  reacliing  land  was  to  ofi'er  unto  God  this  appointed 
"  sacrifice  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving  ;"  and  that  amongst 
the  first  humble  reed-thatched  houses  in  which,  under  the 
name  of  James  Town,  they  found  shelter  for  themselves, 
they  at  once  erected  one  to  be  the  church  and  temple  of 
the  rising  settlement. 

On  their  first  landing,  everything  smiled  around  them. 
They  "  fomid  a  country  which  might  claim  the  prerogative 
over  the  most  pleasant  places  in  the  known  world,  for  large 
and  majestic  navigable  rivers  ;  for  beautiful  mountains, 
hills,  plains,  valleys  ;  rivulets  and  brooks  gurgling  down 
and  running  most  pleasantly  into  a  fair  bay,  encompassed 
on  all  sides,  except  at  the  mouth,  with  such  fruitful  and 
delijrhtful  land.  Heaven  and  earth  seemed  never  to  have 
agreed  better  to  frame  a  place  for  man's  commodious  and 
delightful  habitation,  were  it  fully  cultivated  and  inhabited 
by  industrious  people."* 

But  this  bright  morning  was  soon  clouded  over ;  and 
the  first  years  of  the  colony  were,  as  is  commonly  the  case, 

*  Stith,  b.  ii.  p.  48. 


30  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

years  of  discouragement  and  sorroAV.  All  the  forms  of 
suffering  pressed  on  them  in  turn.  Their  Indian  neigh- 
bors slew  many  by  treachery  ;  they  were  often  disunited 
among  themselves  ;  they  depended  for  subsistence  on  the 
supplies  of  food  they  could  obtain  from  home,  and  from  the 
neighboring  tribes, — so  that  any  failure  here  (and  failures 
were  frequent)  threw  them  at  once  into  the  miseries  of 
famine  :  upon  this  disease,  followed  hard,  imtil  at  times 
almost  all  tlie  population  was  mowed  down.  "  Unwhole- 
some water,"  says  George  Percy,  brother  of  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  himself  one  of  the  sufferers,  "  was  our 
drink  ;  our  lodgings,  castles  in  the  air."  Within  ten  days 
of  the  ships  leaving  them,  the  colonists  "  fell  into  such 
violent  sickness  that  scarce  ten  amongst  them  could  either 
go  or  stand."*  Half  of  those  who  had  been  left  perished 
before  the  setting  in  of  winter. 

The  fate  of  the  colony  seemed  to  hang  upon  one  man. 
In  spite  of  the  bitterest  envy,  the  merits  of  Captain  Smith 
raised  him  to  supreme  command  ;  and  he  alone  was  equal 
to  the  great  emergencies  of  every  day.  His  early  Irfef 
had  fitted  him  for  daring  deeds.  Trained  in  the  war  in 
which  the  Low  Countries  fought,  for  freedom  and  their 
faith,  against  the  power  of  Spain,  he  had  afterwards  main- 
tained the  borders  of  Christendom  against  the  Turks  in 
Hungary.  Being  taken  prisoner  in  a  skirmish,  he  was 
sold  into  slavery  ;  sent  first  to  Constantinople,  and  thence, 
with  a  merciful  intention,  to  the  Crimea.  Here  being 
sorely  oppressed  by  those  who  were  charged  to  protect 
him,  he  escaped  after  a  desperate  encounter  with  his 
guards,  and  passed  on  horseback  through  the  skirts  of 
Russia  to  his  old  Hungarian  quarters.  We  find  him  next 
in  northern  Africa,  whence  he  returned  to  England  in  time 
to  cast  himself  into  the  current  which  was  then  sweeping 
the  most  daring  spirits  to  the  unknown  regions  of  the  New 
World.  In  the  sufterings  and  dangers  of  this  expedition 
his  courage  never  failed.  He  made  excursions  amongst 
the  neighboring  tribes  of  Indians ;  he  obtained  supplies  of 
food ;  defeated  hostile  attacks  ;  sunk,  or  threatened  to  sink, 

*  Stith,  b.  ii.  p.  47.  f  Bancroft's  America. 


ROBERT    HUNT.  31 

the  barque  in  which  the  trembling  handful  of  remainiuof 
colonists  would  otherwise  have  attempted  a  shameful  and 
impossible  return  ;  and  was  the  great  instrument  of  plant- 
ing the  English  race  in  that  reluctant  but  at  length  proiilic 
soil. 

In  all  his  trials  he  was  supported  by  the  zealous  aid  of 
the  admirable  Hunt,  whose  patient  meekness  disarmed  all 
opposition,  while  his  cheerful  faith  was  a  bright  example 
to  the  colony.  Amid  its  severest  sufferings,  it  is  cheering 
to  find  the  minister  of  Christ  in  that  far  land  repeating 
those  lessons  by  which  his  forerunners  in  the  holy  office 
had  so  often  kept  ahve  the  first  fault  sparks  of  social  life. 
With  unwearied  patience  he  maintained  the  sinkiiig  spirits 
of  his  flock  by  the  mighty  influence  of  Christian  truth,  of 
which  he  gave  a  bright  example  in  his  own  active  faith 
and  cheerful  patience.  Thus  when,  in  a  fire  wlrich  des- 
troyed their  rising  town,  "the  good  Mr.  Hunt  lost  all  liis 
library,  with  every  thing  else  that  he  had,  except  the 
clothes  on  his  back,  yet  no  one  ever  heard  him  murmur  or 
repine  at  it."*  He  seems  to  have  entered  on  the  work  as 
one  which,  in  the  language  of  the  first  royal  charter, 
"may,  by  the  providence  of  Almighty  God,  hereafter  tend 
to  the  glory  of  His  divine  Majesty,  in  propagating  the 
Christian  religion  to  such  people  as  yet  live  in  darloiess 
and  miserable  ignorance  of  the  true  knowledge  and  wor- 
ship  of  God."t  Wlien  this  good  man  died,  we  know  not  ; 
it  is  merely  recorded  that  he  left  his  bones  in  that  land  of 
England's  after-inlaeritance.  But  amongst  the  earliest 
settlers  liis  mantle  fell  on  others  of  like  spirit.  In  the 
year  1610,  after  a  period  of  the  sorest  famine,  "remem- 
bered for  many  years  by  the  name  of  the  starving  time, "J 
the  few  whom  hunger  and  disease  had  spared  resolved  to 
quit  for  ever  this  impropitious  country.  They  embarked 
with  all  they  had  iix  four  small  vessels, — "  none  dropped  a 
tear,  for  none  had  enjoyed  one  day  of  happiness  ;"  and 
had  already  fallen  down  the  river  with  the  tide,  when 


*  Stith,  b.  ii.  p.  59. 

t  Hazard's  State  Papers,  quoted  in  Hawks's  Virginia,  p.  19. 

^  Stith,  b.  iii.  p.  117. 


32  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

they  descried  the  long-boat  of  Lord  Delaware,  who,  with 
three  ships,  and  a  new  commission,  had  arrived  at  that 
precise  moment  for  their  rescue. 

He  carried  back  the  fainting  settlers  to  their  abandoned 
town,  and  again  took  possession  of  the  land  with  the  offi- 
ces of  our  holy  faith.  Hunt  was  no  more  :  but  the  new 
governor  was  happily  attended  by  a  chaplain  ;  and  his 
were  the  first  services  called  for  by  Lord  Delaware.  "  He 
cast  anchor,"  says  one  of  the  new-comers,  "  before  James 
Towne,  where  we  landed  ;  and  our  much  grieved  gover- 
nor, first  visiting  the  church,  caused  the  bell  to  be  rung  ; 
at  which  all  such  as  were  able  to  come  forth  of  their 
houses  repay  red  to  church,  which  was  neatly  trimmed 
with  the  wild  flowers  of  the  country,  where  our  minister, 
Master  Bucke,  made  a  zealous  and  sorrowful  prayer,  find- 
ing all  things  so  contrary  to  our  expectations,  and  full  of 
misery  and  misgovernment."* 

Bucke  was  fixed  at  James  Tov/n,  and  when,  after  a 
few  years,  the  colony  had  so  far  taken  root  as  to  have 
spread  itself  into  the  neighboring  town  of  Henrico,  he  was 
joined  by  Mr.  Whitaker,  (son  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  W. 
Whitaker,  master  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,)  who 
was  established  "  in  a  handsome  church,"!  which,  through 
the  zeal  of  the  settlers,  was  one  of  the  first  buildings 
raised.  Whitaker  was  no  unworthy  successor  of  Hunt. 
By  the  saint-like  Nicholas  Ferrar,  his  contemporary,  he 
was  honored  with  the  title  of  "  apostle  of  Virginia."  "  I 
hereby  let  all  men  know,"  writes  W.  Crashaw,^  in  1613, 
"  that  a  scholar,  a  graduate,  a  preacher,  well  borne  and 
friended  in  England  ;  not  in  debt  nor  disgrace,  but  compe- 
tently provided  for,  and  liked  and  loved  where  he  lived  ; 
not  in  want,  but  (for  a  scholar  as  these  days  be)  rich  in 
possessions,  and  more  in  possibility,  of  himself,  without 
any  persuation  (but  God's  and  his  own  heart's,)  did  volun- 
tarily leave  his  warm  nest,  and,  to  the  wonder  of  his 
kindred,  and  amazement  of  them  that  knew  him  luider- 
take  this  hard,  but,  in  my  judgment,  heroicall  resolution 

*  Purchas's  Pilgrirag,  b.  ix.  c.  6.         f  Hawks's  Virginia,  p.  28. 
X  Quoted  in  Ilawks's  Virginia,  p.  28. 


POCAHONTAS.  33 

to  go  to  Virginia,  and  helpe  to  beare  the  name  of  God 
unto  the  Gentiles." 

With  the  name  of  Whitaker  is  joined  the  romantic 
story  of  the  first  Indian  convert,  whom  he  baptised  into 
the  Church  of  Christ.  Pocahontas,  the  favorite  daughter 
of  Powhatan,  the  most  powerful  Indian  chieftain  of  those 
parts,  then  a  girl  of  twelve  years  old,  saved  from  barbar- 
ous murder  Captain  Smith,  the  early  hero  of  this  colony, 
whilst  a  prisoner  at  her  father's  court.  For  years  she  re- 
mained the  white  man's  constant  friend  and  advocate  ; 
and  even  dared  to  visit,  on  more  than  one  errand  of 
mercy,  the  new  settlement  of  James  Town.  After  Cap- 
tani  Smith's  removal  from  Virginia,  Pocahontas  was  en- 
snared by  treachery,  and  brought  a  prisoner  to  the  Eng- 
lish fort.  But  her  captivity  was  turned  into  a  blessing. 
She  received  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  was  not  only  the 
first,  but  one  of  the  most  hopeful  of  the  whole  band  of 
native  converts.  Her  after-life  was  strange.  She  formed 
a  marriage  of  mutual  afi'ection  with  an  English  settler  of 
good  birtli  ;  who,  after  a  time,  visited  his  native  land, 
taking  with  him  to  its  shores  his  Indian  wife  and  child. 
She  was  received  with  due  respect  in  England  ;  visited 
the  English  court  (where  her  husband  bore  the  froM'ns  of 
the  royal  pedant  James  I.  for  having  dared  to  intermarry 
with  a  princess  ;)  and,  after  winning  the  gooduall  of  all, 
just  on  the  eve  of  her  return,  died  at  Gravesend,  aged  22, 
in  the  faith  of  Jesus.  "  What  would  have  been  the 
emotions,"  well  asks  the  ecclesiastical  historian  of  Virgi- 
nia, "  of  the  devoted  missionary,  when  he  admitted  Poca- 
hontas to  baptism,  could  he  have  foreseen  that,  after  tho 
lapse  of  more  than  two  hundred  years,  the  blood  of  this 
noble-hearted  Indian  maiden  would  be  flowing  in  the 
veins. of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  that 
Church,  the  foundations  of  which  he  Avas  then  laying  I"* 

But  though  thus  happy  in  her  early  clergy,  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  the  infant  Church  of  Virginia  flourished 
without  many  a  drawback.  The  mass  of  those  who  flock 
to  such  a  settlement  will  ever  be,  Uke  David's  followers  in 

*  Dr.  Hawks's  Memorials  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  p.  28. 


34  AMERICAN    CHTJECH. 

the  desert,  men  of  broken  fortunes  and  ungoverned  habits  : 
the  bonds  of  society  are  loose ;  strong  temptations  abound ; 
and  there  will  be  much  that  must  rebel  not  only  against 
morals  and  rehgion,  but  even  against  civil  rule.  So  it 
was  in  this  case ;  and  to  such  a  pitch,  at  one  time,  had 
this  insubordination  risen,  that  but  for  the  governor's  pro- 
claiming martial  law,  the  whole  society  had  perished 
through  internal  strife. 

This  code  of  law  may  still  be  seen  ;  and,  as  is  implied 
in  its  title — "  Lawes  divine,  morall,  and  martiall,  for  Vir- 
ginia"— it  enforced  obedience  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  as  the 
foundation  of  all  relative  obligations.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that,  in  that  stage  of  society,  these  laws  (the  harsh 
penalties  attached  to  which  were  never  enforced)  proved 
a  great  blessing  to  the  colony,  and  prepared  it  for  better 
days. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FEOM  1620  TO   1688. 

Virginian  Company — Measures  of  Sii-  E.  Sandys,  Nicholas  Ferrar, 
and  others — Churches  endowed — College  founded — Mr.  Thorpe 
— Indian  massacre — Indian  conquest — Effects  of  the  massacre — 
Virginia  in  the  Great  RebeUion — Loyalty — Love  of  the  Church — 
Efl'ects  of  Puritan  rule — King  Charles  JL  proclaimed — Enactments 
of  Legislature  in  behalf  of  the  Church — Popish  plots  suspected. 

It  was  the  great  happiness  of  Virginia,  that  the  company 
who  managed  its  afihirs  contained  at  this  time  men  v/ho 
looked  far  beyond  direct  commercial  profit.  Amongst 
these  should  he  especially  remembered  the  names  of  Sir 
Edwin  Sandys,  son  of  the  Archbishop  of  York,  and  pupil 
of  Richard  Hooker,  and  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Ferrar  ;*  who 
composed  all  their  letters  and  instructions  to  their  servants. 
These,  and  the  rest  who  acted  with  them,  earnestly  de- 
sired to  make  the  rising  colony  indeed  an  outpost  of  the 
faith. 

For  this  end,  they  endeavored  to  raise  its  internal  cha- 
racter ;  and  many  were  their  schemes  with  this  intent. 
Their  first  care  was  to  provide  a  more  settled  population, 
by  promoting  female  emigration  and  colonial  marriages. 
They  laid  the  foundation  of  a  college  for  the  reception 
both  of  the  English  and  Indian  youth  ;  they  set  apart 
10,000  acres  for  its  permanent  support,  and  collected  large 
sums  of  money,  both  by  a  king's  letter  and  from  private 
charity,  to  furnish  endowments  for  a  body  of  professors  ; 
and  in  a  new  charter  which  they  now  sent  out,  they  pro- 
vided for  the  settled  maintenance  of  the  colonial  clergy. 
Nor  were  the  settlers  backward  in  the  like  endeavors.     In 

*  See  "Walton's  Life  of  R.  Hooker :  and  Memoir  of  Nicholas 
Ferrar,  by  Rev.  T.  M.  Macdoaough. 


36  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  year  1619,  when  Sir  Thomas  Yeardley  entered  on  the 
government,'  he  called  together  the  first  representative 
legislature  of  Virginia.  One  of  the  early  enactments  of 
this  body  fixed  the  payment  of  their  clergy  at  =£200  worth 
of  corn  and  tobacco,*  their  principal  productions.  One 
hundred  acres  were  marked  off  for  glebes  in  every  borough, 
for  each  of  which  the  company  at  home  provided  six  ten- 
ants at  the  public  cost.  They  applied  to  the  Bishop  of 
London  to  find  for  them  a  body  of  "  pious,  learned,  and 
painful  ministers;"  —  a  charitable  work  in  which  he 
readily  engaged, 

Many  large-hearted  Christians  helped  on  these  good 
beginnings.  The  Bishop  of  Londonf  raised  c^filOOO  to- 
wards the  expenses  of  their  infant  college ;  an  unlinown 
benefactor  sent  <£500  more,  to  be  laid  out  in  instructing 
the  young  Indians  in  the  faith  of  Christ.  Money  to  be 
spent  in  building  churches,  and  providing  communion-plate 
for  those  already  built,  flowed  in  from  other  quarters.  An 
exemplary  zeal  appears  in  all  the  dealings  of  the  company. 
They  impressed  upon  their  governors  that  they  "  should 
take  into  their  especial  regard  the  service  of  Almighty 
God,  and  the  observance  of  His  divine  laws  ;  and  that  the 
people  should  be  trained  up  in  true  religion  and  virtue." 
They  urged  them  "  to  employ  their  utmost  care  to  advance 
all  things  appertaining  to  the  order  and  administration  of 
divine  service  according  to  the  form  and  discipline  of  the 
Church  of  England,  carefully  avoiding  all  factious  and 
needless  novelties,  which  only  tend  to  the  disturbance  of 
peace  and  unity." 

They  besought  them  "  to  use  all  probable  means  of 
bringing  over  the  natives  to  the  knowledge  of  God  and 
His  true  religion  ;  to  which  purpose,  the  example  given 
by  the  English  in  their  own  persons  and  families  will  be 
of  singular  and  chief  moment."  They  suggest  to  them 
that  "  it  will  be  proper  to  draw  the  best  disposed  amongst 
the  Indians  to  converse  and  labor  with  our  people  for  a 
convenient  reward,  that  thereby,  being  reconciled  to  a 
civil  way  of  life,  and  brought  to  a  sense  of  God  and  reli- 

•  Stith,  b.  iii.  p.  173.  f  Bp.  King. 


INDIAN    MASSACRE.  37 

gion,  they  might  afterwards  become  instruments  m  the  ge- 
neral conversion  of  their  countrymen,  so  much  desired ;  that 
each  town,  borough,  and  hundred,  ought  to  procure,  by 
Just  means,  a  certain  number  of  children  to  be  brought  up; 
that  the  most  towardly  of  these  should  be  fitted  for  the 
college.  In  all  which  pious  work  they  earnestly  require 
help  and  furtherance,  not  doubting  the  particular  blessing 
of  God  upon  the  colony."* 

All  these  good  beginnings  were  advancing  in  the  settle- 
ment. The  headship  of  the  college  was  accepted  by  an 
exemplary  man,  Mr.  George  Thorpe,  of  good  parts  and 
breeding,  (he  had  been  of  the  king's  bedchamber  in  Eng- 
land,) from  an  earnest  desire  of  helping-on  the  conversion 
of  the  Indians.  His  heart  was  given  to  this  work,  and  he 
sought  to  farther  it  in  every  way.  He  visited  the  Indian 
chiefs  at  their  own  haunts,  to  win  them  over  to  the  faith 
of  Christ  ;  and  he  was  ever  watching  in  the  colony  to  re- 
move every  ground  of  quarrel  or  ofl'ence. 

The  general  treatment  of  the  Indian  race  was  mild  and 
friendly.  The  settlers'  houses  and  tables  were  open  to 
them  ;  they  often  slept  under  the  white  men's  roofs,  and 
freely  used  the  boats  which  they  had  built  upon  the  vari- 
ous creeks  and  rivers.  The  two  races  promised  to  blend 
peaceably  together  ;  whilst  Mr.  Thorpe  and  his  Christian 
coadjutors  looked  gladly  forward  to  the  day  when,  by 
these  Indian  tribes,  the  knowledge  of  salvation  should  be 
spread  through  all  the  Western  world. 

Yet  in  the  midst  of  this  apparent  calm  there  was 
secretly  arisuig  one  of  those  fearful  hurricanes  to  which 
the  neighborhood  of  Indian  life  has  always  been  exposed. 
The  red  tribes,  whose  extreme  simplicity  and  seeming 
mildness  had  led  the  English  to  lay  aside  the  commonest 
precautions,  were  forming  secretly  a  Made-spread  plot  to 
rid  their  land  at  one  blow  of  the  strangers,  whose  increas- 
ing numbers  seemed  to  make  immediate  action  needful. 

"With  that  deliberate  stillness  of  preparation  which 
aggravates  so  fearfully  the  murdei'ous  onset  of  savage  war- 
fare, the  Indians  sprang  at  once  upon  the  whole  slumber- 

*Stit!i,  b.  iv.  pp.  19t,  195. 


38  AMERICAN   CmjRCH. 

ing  colony.  Neither  age  nor  sex,  character  nor  station, 
acts  of  kindness  past  or  present,  turned  aside  in  a  single 
instance  the  knife  or  hatchet  of  the  savage.  Mr.  Thorpe 
was  slain  and  mangled  in  the  midst  of  his  confiding  labors  ; 
and  within  an  hour,  347  men,  women,  and  children,  were 
left  bleeding  and  dismembered  corpses.  Yet,  terrible  as 
this  blow  was,  it  would  have  been  far  more  fatal  but  for 
the  conduct  of  one  Indian  convert.  His  chief  sent  to  him 
the  general  order,  bidding  him  slay  upon  the  morrow  his 
unsuspecting  master ;  but  obedience  to  the  laws  of  clan- 
ship yielded,  in  the  heart  of  the  Christian  Indian,  to  a 
higher  obligation.  As  soon  as  the  messenger,  his  own 
brother,  had  departed,  he  rose  and  warned  his  master  of 
the  meditated  treachery ;  thus  enabling  him  not  only  to 
preserve  his  own  house,  but  to  prepare  the  inhabitants  of 
James  Town  to  expect  and  to  resist  the  blow.  The  In- 
dians, finding  their  attack  suspected,  retreated  from  the 
town,  and  the  great  mass  of  colonists  escaped.  The  con- 
version of  one  native  man  had  saved  the  English  settle- 
ment. 

Yet  their  miseries  were  not  over.  The  affrighted 
colonists  fled  to  the  shelter  of  James  Town,  where  famine 
soon  visited  their  crowded  ranks.  When  the  storm  had 
passed  away,  the  whole  face  of  the  settlement  was 
changed.  Of  "  eighty  plantations  which  were  advancing 
to  completion,  eight  only  remained  ;  and  of  twenty-nine 
hundred  and  sixty  inhabitants,  eighteen  hundred  were  all 
that  were  left.*" 

Still  the  blow  had  been  averted ;  the  colony  was  saved ; 
and  its  loss  was  soon  repaired  by  reinforcements  from  the 
mother  country.  But  lasting  evil  had  been  done  ;  a  spirit 
of  deadly  hostility  sprang  up  between  the  white  men  and 
the  Indians.  To  overawe  all  whom  they  did  not  extermi- 
nate was  now  their  settled  policy  ;  and  all  thoughts  of  the 
college,  with  its  promise  of  mercy,  was  wholly  laid  aside 
for  years. 

Some  of  the  first  records  of  the  reviving  colony  are  of  a 
happier  character.     The  first  seven  laws  (amongst  thirty- 

*  Ha-wks's  Virginia,  b.  iv.  p.  1. 


LOVE    OF    THE    CHURCH.  39 

five)  passed  two  years  afterwards,  provide  for  the  interests 
of  religion.  They  require  the  erection  of  a  house  of  wor- 
ship, and  the  separation  of  a  burial-ground,  on  every  plan- 
tation ;  they  enforce  the  attendance  of  the  colonists  at 
public  worship  ;  provide  for  uniformity  of  faith  and  worship 
with  the  English  Church  ;  prescribe  the  observance  of  her 
holydays,  and  of  a  yearly  fast  upon  the  anniversary  of  the 
massacre  ;  and  enjoin  respectful  treatment  and  the  payment 
of  a  settled  stipend  to  the  colonial  clergy. 

This  Avas  almost  the  last  act  of  the  legislature  of  Vir- 
ginia whilst  it  continued  under  its  early  charters.  Two 
years  afterwards  (in  1624)  the  crown  resumed  its  grant, 
and  the  settlement  became  a  royal  colony.  Although  this 
change,  which  transferred  the  management  of  its  affairs 
from  the  hands  of  Sandys  and  Ferrar  to  the  interested 
courtiers  of  King  James,  had  no  doubt  an  influence  upon 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  colony,  and  especially  upon  its 
missionary  character,  yet  it  produced  no  direct  alteration 
in  religious  matters.  The  laws  of  the  succeeding  period 
continued  to  enforce  the  observance  of  the  same  duties  ; 
and  thoufrh  their  distance  saved  the  colonists  from  that  fidl 
severity  of  rule  with  which  matters  were  administered  at 
home  by  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  yet  its  decisions 
were  acknowledged  as  authority,  and  the  harsh  tone  which 
was  now  unhappily  assumed  in  England  was  felt  even  in 
Virginia.  At  the  same  time,  the  temper  of  the  colony  was 
far  different  from  that  which  was  spreading  at  home. 
Without  much  warmth  of  religion,  the  attachiBcnt  of  the 
people  to  their  fathers'  Church  was  general  and  decided. 
An  attempt  made  from  without  to  gather  a  congregation 
of  the  Independent  character,  met  vAih  but  small  support, 
and  was  easily  suppressed  by  the  authorities.*  The  Puri- 
tan writers  complaui,  in  their  peculiar  language,  that  the 
governor  was  "  a  courtier,  and  very  malignant  to  the  Avay 
of  the  Churches  ;"  but  the  whole  temper  of  the  colony  was 
with  him  ;  and  when  the  hiunors  of  the  mother-country 
broke  out  into  the  great  rebellion,  Virginia  continued  loyal. 

*  Leah  and  Rachelf,  or  the  two  fruitful  Sisters  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland.     1656.     Quoted  by  Dr.  Hawks. 


40  atyIerican  church. 

Ill  dissenting  New  England,  all  were  fully  satisfied  that 
the  battles  which  Cromwell  had  fought  at  home  were  the 
battles  of  the  Lord  ;  and  "  the  spirits  of  the  brethren  were 
carried  forth  in  faithful  and  affectionate  prayers  in  his  be- 
half"* But  with  this  state  of  feeling  Virginia  had  no 
sympathy.  The  expatriated  cavalier  fled  to  her  as  a  re- 
fuge ;  and  with  a  population  now  multiplied  to  20,000,  she 
resisted  Cromwell's  arms.  The  terms  on  which  she  at 
length  capitulated  to  superior  numbers  show  the  true 
grounds  of  her  resolute  fidelity  ;  for  she  stipulates  for  "  the 
use  of  tiie  Booke  of  Common  Prayer  for  one  yeare  ensuing, 
the  continuance  of  ministers  m  their  places,  and  the  pay- 
ment of  their  accustomed  dues  and  agreements."!  Nor 
did  the  success  of  the  Puritans  alter  these  leading  features, 
though  it  raised  one  of  their  body  to  the  seat  of  governor, 
and  spread  a  few  of  his  adherents  through  the  land.  The 
chief  evil  which  flowed  from  it  was  the  growth  of  uncon- 
cern about  religion.  "  Many  places"  became  "  destitute 
of  ministers,  through  the  people  ceasing  to  pay  their  ac- 
customed dues,  and  manifesting  great  negligence  in  procur- 
ing religious  mstruction."^ 

But  the  Independent  form  of  worship  found  no  favor  in. 
the  colony.  It  is  described  by  a  contemporary  as  "  bearing 
a  great  love  to  the  stated  constitutions  of  the  Church  of 
England,  in  her  government  and  public  worship,  which 
gave  us  (who  went  thither  under  the  late  persecutions  of 
it)  the  advantage  of  liberty  to  use  it  constantly  amongst 
them,  after  the  naval  force  had  reduced  the  colony  luider 
the  power  (but  never  to  the  obedience)  of  the  usur- 
pers, "s^ 

Through  the  whole  period  of  the  great  rebellion  such 
remained  the  temper  of  Virginia.  Eight  years  after  his 
deposition.  Sir  W.  Berkeley,  the  ex-governor,  was  still 
lingering  in  the  colony,  and  opening  "  his  purse  and  his 
house  to  all  the  royal  party,  who  made  Virgmia  their  re- 

*  Bancroft's  United  States,  vol.  i.  p.  445. 

+  Hening's  Virginia, — Statutes  at  large,  p.  362. 

X  Ibid.  p.  378. 

§  Virginia's  Cure,  p.  22,  quoted  by  Dr.  Hawks. 


ENACTMENTS   IN   BEHALF   OF    THE    CHURCH.  41 

fuge."*  When  a  felon  convict,!  who  had  escaped  from 
justice,  was  employed  by  Cromwell,  in  the  neighboring 
state  of  Maryland,  "in  the  holy  work  of  rooting  out  the 
abominations  of  popery  and  prelacy,"  Virginia  fearlessly 
sheltered  his  victims,  in  defiance  of  the  usurper's  censure 
of  "  the  presumption  and  impiety  of  her  interference." 
Sixteen  months  before  the  king  was  restored  at  home,  he 
was  proclaimed  in  Virginia  ,t  and  amongst  the  earliest 
business  brought  before  the  colonial  legislature,  when  it  re- 
assembled under  the  royal  commission,  was  the  revival  of 
the  Church.  This  had  already  suffered  greatly  :  of  fifty 
parishes,  into  which  the  colony  was  now  divided,  the 
greater  number  wanted  alike  glebe,  parsonage,  church,  and 
minister,  as  there  were  not  above  ten  clergymen  remaining. 
The  first  article  in  the  instructions  furnished  to  Sir  W. 
Berkeley,  the  royal  governor,  recommended  "  the  duties  of 
religion,  the  use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  the  decent 
repairs  of  churches,  and  a  competent  provision  tor  conform- 
ing ministers. "s^  These  sujjTOstions  were  acted  on  at  once 
by  the  colonial  legislature.  Provision  was  made  for  the 
building  and  due  furniture  of  churches  ;  for  the  canonical 
pei'formance  of  the  Liturgy ;  for  the  ministration  of  God's 
word  ;  for  a  due  observance  of  the  Sunday  ;  for  the  bap- 
tism and  Christian  education  of  the  young.  "  These," 
says  the  Virginian  Statute  Book,||  "  among  many  other 
blessings,  God  Almighty  hath  vouchsafed  to  increase"  into 
"  a  very  numerous  generation  of  Christian  children  born  in 
Virginia,  who  naturally  are  of  beautiful  and  comely  per- 
sons, and  generally  of  more  ingenious  spirits  than  those  of 
England."1[ 

With  these  provisions  the  Church  and  religious  matters 
were  again  established  on  their  ancient  basis,  and  proceeded 
as  before  ;  though  in  the  next  few  years,  the  general  out- 
lines of  ecclesiastical  affairs  at  home  may  be  traced  by 
their  reproduction  ui  the  colony. 

*  Churchill's  Journal  of  Norwood,  in  Voyages,  vol.  vi. 

f  2  Burk,  113,  by  the  same.  X  ^^^^-  P-  118. 

§  2  Burk,  124,  in  Hawks'3  Virginia,  p.  65. 

II  Hening,  vol.  i.  p.  336. 

•|f  Virginia's  Cure,  p.  5,  quoted  in  Bancroft's  United  States. 


42  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

Strict  enactments  against  non-conformists,  then  deemed 
necessary  to  prevent  political  disturbance,  marked  its  be- 
ginning ;  and  were  followed,  under  James  II.,  by  fears  of 
Popish  innovation.  The  Papists  and  the  Indians  were  be- 
lieved to  be  in  secret  leagiie  against  the  colony  ;  and,  in 
spite  of  all  her  loyalty,  Virginia  hailed,  with  no  less  joy 
than  eager  Protestants  at  home,  the  accession  of  King 
William  and  Glueen  Mary. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FROM  1608  TO  1688. 

Neighboring  colonies — New- York — '^e'V  Jersey — Philadelphia — 
Carolina — Maryland — New  England — Its  settlement — Rise  of 
Purilanism  in  England — Emigration  to  Leyden,  to  New  England 
— Piety  of  the  early  Puritans — Their  hatred  of  Church-principles 
— Severity — Treatment  of  Indians — Proselyting  spirit  towards 
other  communions. 

Hitherto  the  thread  of  our  history  has  run  along  almost 
entirely  with  that  of  the  single  colony  of  Virginia.  But 
from  this  time  we  must  include  in  our  notice  many  of  her 
sister  settlements  :  and  for  tliis  purpose  it  will  be  conveni- 
ent to  survey  their  religious  posture  at  this  time,  and  from 
their  first  beginning. 

Very  different  now  was  the  condition  of  that  great 
western  continent  from  its  state  when  the  first  settlers  in 
Virgmia  landed  on  its  shores.  Then,  in  all  the  great  wilder- 
ness around  them,  the  Lord  of  heaven  was  an  unknown 
God.  The  echoes  of  its  vast  forests  had  never  yet  awoke 
to  the  name  of  Christ ;  the  whole  expanse  was  only  dotted 
here  and  there  by  the  scattered  wigwams  and  hunting- 
lodges  of  the  savage  Indians.  But  now,  along  the  whole 
coast,  and  continually  more  and  more  inland,  a  busy  swarm- 
uig  people,  bearing  the  Christian  name,  were  overspread- 
ing all  its  extent,  and  drivuig  back  before  them  the  retiring 
wave  of  Indian  life. 

Some  of  these  settlements  had  been  formed  but  little 
later  than  Virginia,  though  imder  a  widely-different  reli- 
gious influence. 

Thus  the  district  of  Peimsylvania  had  been  settled  in 
1608,  one  year  after  Virginia,  by  the  Dutch.  Whilst 
about  1627,  some  Swedish  emigrants  seated  themselves  at 


44  AJIERICAN   CHURCH. 

New- York  and  New  Jersey,  and  long  held  possession  of 
them.  For,  though  the  English  laid  claim,  as  first  dis- 
coverers, to  the  whole  northern  continent,  it  was  not  till 
1664  that  the  Dutch  governor  surrendered  to  the  summons 
of  Sir  K,.  Cave,  and  transferred  to  English  rule  the  city  of 
New  Amsterdam,  which,  with  its  change  of  rulers,  changed 
also  its  name,  and  became  thenceforth  New- York,  Here, 
therefore,  were  established  the  religious  rites  and  usages  of 
the  Dutch  and  Swedish  presbyterian  worship. 

In  1683  a  diflerent  element  was  largely  introduced, 
when  Newcastle  Town,  v\dth  twelve  miles  of  the  surround- 
ing country,  was  sold  by  the  Duke  of  York,  to  whom  it 
had  been  granted  by  the  crown,  to  William  Pcnn,  who 
built  the  town  of  Philadelphia,  and  peopled  it  with  quakers. 

Thirteen  years  before  (in  1670),  Carolina  had  been 
granted  by  King  Charles  II.  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  others, 
who  established  there  a  constitution,  drawn  up  by  the 
famous  John  Locke ;  which,  with  many  more  peculiarities, 
professed  to  establish  perfect  religious  equality  amongst  all 
sects,  only  requiring  that  each  stripling  of  seventeen  should 
select  one  for  himself,  and  publicly  enroll  himself  amongst 
its  members. 

Bordering  directly  on  Virginia,  Maryland  was  settled, 
in  1633,  by  about  two  hundred  English  families,  of  Roman 
Catholic  tenets,  under  the  direction  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and 
soon  grew  into  a  flourishing  community :  in  which,  whilst 
all  who  professed  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  were  allowed 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  Romanism  was  long  the 
dominant  belief.  So  fully  had  the  unhappy  religious  feuds 
of  Christendom  been  bonie  across  the  Atlantic,  to  seed  with 
fresh  divisions  the  new  world  which  lay  outspread  before 
the  Christian  settlers. 

But  of  all  these  colonies,  the  most  important,  under 
every  aspect,  were  those  which  had  peopled  the  extensive 
district  known,  from  their  occupation,  by  the  title  of  New 
England.  This  was  the  great  seed-plot  of  division  in  reli- 
gion ;  and  the  history  of  its  foundation  will,  therefore,  re- 
quire a  more  detailed  and  particular  account. 

Its  first  settlement  Avas  the  consequence  of  religious 
troubles  at  home.     The  curse  of  popery  had  long  lain  heavy 


POPISH    BAKKNESS.  45 

upon  England  ;  and  had  eaten  out  in  great  measure  the 
very  life  of  Christianity  amongst  us.  It  was  "  as  with  the 
people,  so  M'ith  the  priest  ;"  or  rather,  the  evil  had  begun 
with  the  priest,  and  had  gone  down  to  the  people.  When 
we  look  into  the  religious  history  of  that  period,  we  should 
almost  conclude  that,  with  some  few  noble  exceptions,  in 
which  the  absolute  deadness  of  the  system  in  which  he 
was  set  forced  the  saint  out  of  all  system  into  a  direct 
commerce  with  the  unseen  world,  Christianity  had,  in  the 
mass  of  cases,  become  a  great  scheme  of  formality.  The 
withholding  of  God's  w^ord  from  the  people,  the  denial  of 
the  master  truth  of  our  being  justified  by  faith  only,  and, 
above  all,  the  robbing  men  of  the  presence  of  their  only 
Saviour,  by  putting  in  His  place  those  outward  institutions 
which  were  intended  to  be  signs  and  means  of  His  true 
nearness  to  them, — all  this  had  wrought  fearfully  amongst 
us  ;  and  though,  through  God's  goodness,  there  was  doubt- 
less underneath  this  frozen  surface  some  hidden  life  kept 
here  and  there  in  being,  yet,  for  the  most  part,  formality 
had  chilled  it  iitterly.  There  was  no  dealing  with  the 
consciences  of  men ;  no  treating  them  as  individual  souls, 
each  one  with  the  great  mystery  of  spiritual  life  within, 
which  was  to  be  nurtured  and  perfected  ;  but  empty  out- 
ward forms  Ave  re  all ;  and  when  once  that  divinely  ap- 
pointed organization,  which,  as  the  channel  of  God's  living 
grace,  was  intended  to  quicken  as  much  as  to  direct  the 
soul  of  man,  was  itself  thus  changed  into  a  set  of  lifeless 
observances,  it  could  maintain  any  power  at  all,  only  by 
suspending  within  each  of  its  victims  the  true  energies  of 
his  own  inner  being.  Tliis,  therefore,  became  the  object 
of  those  worldly-mmded  men,  who  sought  to  use  Christ's 
Church  as  an  instrument  for  working  out  their  owir  earthly 
ends.  And  so  long  as  men's  consciences  could  be  wholly 
sent  to  sleep,  this  scheme  was  perfact  of  its  kind  ;  for  it 
stilled  the  cravings  of  man's  sovd  by  the  opiate  of  insensi- 
bility ;  passing  over  to  the  priest  and  the  system,  that  care 
about  his  own  iniiL-r  self,  which  is  indeed  the  charge  of 
each  reasonable  being.  So  long,  too,  as  men  could  be  kept 
in  gross  ignorance,  the  fearful  starts  to  M'hich  a  sleeping 
conscience  is  subject  could  be  set   again  at  rest.     There 


46  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

were  penances,  and  indulgences,  and  remissions,  and  the 
showy  jugglery  of  outward  devotion,  all  specially  directed 
to  this  end.  And  so  for  years  had  it  been  in  England  , 
prayers  in  which  the  heart  or  even  the  reason  of  the 
worsliipper  could  take  little  or  no  part,  had  been,  for  the 
mass  of  the  people,  the  only  allowed  attempt  at  approach- 
ing God.  Formalities  and  shows,  which,  at  the  best,  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  the  sensitive  faculties,  these  had  been 
the  food  provided  for  the  deep  and  wonderful  spiritual  life  ; 
and  the  reason  had  been  abased,  until  it  received  the  lying 
legends  of  the  day,  instead  of  that  wortl  of  God  which 
"giveth  light  unto  the  eyes."" 

But  so  could  it  be  no  more  after  the  time  of  "VYicldifTe. 
He  had  spoken  words  over  these  slumberers  which  had  bro- 
ken their  charmed  sleep.  He  spoke  of  God,  of  their  need 
of  Him,  of  the  Mediator  between  Him  and  them,  of  their 
own  inner  being  ;  and  conscience  had  awoke,  as  the  words 
reached  their  understandings.  A  multitude  of  men  began 
to  perceive  that  they  were  men  ;  that  they  had  souls,  for 
which  they  must  themselves  care  ;  as  to  them,  above  all, 
they  were  precious  beyond  price.  They  began  to  feel  the 
need  of  personal  religion.  Strange  and  often  ill-directed 
were  their  first  efforts  after  it,  as  are  the  actions  of  men 
who  are  roused  suddenly  from  a  deep  sleep  ;  greatly  did 
they  need  the  soothing  voice  and  guiding  hand  of  their 
appointed  pastors.  But  the  religious  system  of  the  papacy 
could  not  guide  their  efforts  and  satisfy  their  new-born 
wants.  Its  whole  desire  was  to  crush  them.  This  it 
soon  found  to  be  impossible  ;  for  to  each  one  of  these  Lol- 
lards there  was  now  revealed  a  truth,  which  he  held  as  a 
reaHty,  and  which  reached  down  to  the  very  centre  of  hia 
soi;l.  It  could  not  be  torn  from  him  ;  he  must  be  slain 
first.  He  could  not  be  made  to  cease  believing,  or  cease 
feeling.  The  knowledge  of  his  own  humanity  had  flashed 
upon  him  ;  he  could  not  forget  it ;  and  it  must  be  dread- 
ful to  him,  until  he  could  find  out  its  true  healer.  Hence 
popery  strove  in  vain  with  those  who  were  once  infected 
with  this  new  disorder  ;  and,  finding  this  strife  to  be 
hopeless,  it  soon  set  itself  to  prevent  its   spreading,   by 


THE   REFORMATION.  47 

marking  out  for  death  or  sufferings  each  one  who  yielded 
himself  up  to  it. 

This  strife  went  on  long  before  its  being  was  pro- 
claimed. Just  as  knowledge  increased,  so  far  spread  the 
awakening  of  conscience ;  and  whenever  this  awoke,  the 
struoofle  followed  between  liim  in  whom  it  woke,  and 
those  who  sought  to  keep  it  sleeping.  From  which  there 
followed  always  this  evil  consequence,  that  the  man  in 
whom  personal  rehgion  was  but  beginning  to  reveal  itself 
found  the  Church-sy.stem  under  which  he  lived  the  great 
enemy,  of  that  religion.  The  priests,  who  should  have 
nourished,  instructed,  and  perfected  it,  he  knew  only  as 
those  who  hated,  reviled,  and  endeavored  to  extinguish  it. 
The  religious  sympathies,  which  should  have  clung  to  the 
Church-system,  and  by  it  been  raised  to  a  goodly  maturity, 
finding  in  it  no  sure  stay,  cast  forth  their  tendrils  upon 
strange  supports  ;  thus  becoming  themselves  entangled 
with  evil,  and  separating  the  personal  religion  of  the  man 
from  the  unity  and  blessedness  of  the  Church.  In  such  a 
state  men  soon  chose  wilfully  for  themselves,  as  a  part  of 
their  religion.  They  rejected  ignorantly  the  greatest 
truths,  from  their  dread  of  the  errors  with  wliich  they  had 
been  mixed.  There  was  no  blessed  truth  of  Christ's  gos- 
pel to  wliich  some  deadly  delusion  had  not  been  wedded  ; 
and  the  just-opening  eye,  which  saw  men  as  trees  walk- 
ing, could  not  nicely  distinguish  between  truth  and  false- 
hood ;  whilst  it  had  been  made  to  loathe  as  its  worst  ene- 
mies those  who  should  have  been  its  guides. 

For  more  than  one  hmidred  and  fifty  years  this  leaven 
had  been  working  widely  amongst  the  people,  when  the 
outbreak  of  the  Reformation  spread  the  ferment  through 
the  nation.  For  a  time  all  went  on  prosperously.  The 
vexed  and  angry  minds  of  men  were  well  satisfied  as  long 
as  the  work  of  demolition  proceeded.  The  obstacles 
which  it  received  in  the  latter  part  of  Henry's  reign  came 
rather  from  the  king  than  the  clerg)^  The  bishops  were 
still  reformers  ;  all  at  least  whom  the  people  looked  to  as 
bishops  indeed.  Accordingly,  when  Edward  the  Sixth 
became  king,  the  work  proceeded  apace.  The  reformed 
part  of  the  nation  seemed  to  be  united  :  much  was  yet  to 


48  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

be  done  before  religion  would  be  purified  ;  but  upon  doing 
this  they  were  agreed  amongst  themselves.  Then  came 
the  sharp  check  of  Mary's  reign,  and  the  strife  burnt  more 
fiercely  than  ever  ;  but  still  the  reformed  were  all  gathered 
on  one  side,  and  the  popish  on  the  other. 

So  it  continued  while  she  lived  ;  but  with  the  acces- 
sion of  Elizabeth  the  whole  aspect  of  the  field  was  changed. 
The  Reformation  was  established  ;  and  immediately  the 
evil  seed  sown  heretofore  sprung  up  and  multiplied.  Now 
was  seen  the  true  curse  with  which  popery  had  cursed  us, 
in  divorcing  the  religious  sympathies  of  men  from  that  ex- 
ternal organisation  which  had  been  framed  by  the  Lord 
specially  to  foster  them  ;  in  making  men  judges  and 
teachers,  because  the  very  love  of  truth  within  them  had 
made  them  fear  to  be  learners  and  the  taught.  The  re- 
formed began  to  divide  amongst  themselves.  The  E.efor- 
mation  had  lifted  up  the  cover  which  the  seal  of  mystery 
had  hei'ctofore  secured,  and  from  the  opened  vessel  there 
issued  a  spirit,  vast,  undefined,  and  fearful,  on  which  men 
looked  and  trembled  ;  marvelling  how  it  had  been  held 
before  in  such  a  narrow  compass,  seeing  that  never  again 
could  it  be  charmed  into  its  former  quietness.  The  prin- 
ciple of  obedience  had  been  unawares  dissolved.  Their 
former  long  separation  front  Roman  errors,  in  spite  of 
authority,  had  tainted  the  spirit  of  many  of  the  best  of  our 
people,  and  made  them  self-choosing  schismatics.  Each 
was  to  judge  for  himself  The  authority  of  the  early 
Church  was  nothing  ;  for  it  was  confounded  with  the  vile 
tradition  which  for  so  long  a  time  had  cheated  their  souls. 
The  succession  of  the  priesthood  Avas  a  lie  ;  for  the  lying 
priests  of  old  had  claimed  it  for  themselves.  The  deep 
need  of  support  and  sympathy,  for  which  God  has  graciously 
made  provision  in  the  communion  of  saints,  and  for  which 
the  heart  of  man  craves,  Avas  wholly  forgotten  in  the  first 
fever-heat  which  waited  upon  the  discovery  of  individual 
responsibility  and  individual  salvation  ;  and  the  great  twin 
truths  which  had  been  wedded  together  in  primitive  times, 
which  the  hollowness  of  the  popish  system  had  severed  by 
seeking  to  destroy  individual  religion,  were  henceforth,  it 
seemed,  to  strive  for  the  mastery, — as  if  man's  peace  lay 


THE    PURITANS.  49 

in  one  destroying  the  other,  and  not  in  the  perfect  harmony 
of  both. 

In  such  a  state  was  the  nation.  The  spasms  of  con- 
vulsion had  followed  in  due  course  u]iou  the  numbness  of 
Ictharjry.  AH  through  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  society  was 
convulsed  by  these  struggles.  The  party  which  began  to 
be  known  every  Avhere  under  the  title  of  the  Puritans  pro- 
fessed to  aim  at  a  more  perfect  or  entire  reformation  of 
religion.  The  work,  they  thought,  had  been  left  half 
done.  They  were  many  of  them  men  of  true  and  deep 
piety,  whose  errors  were  the  natural  consequence  of 
the  unhappy  influence  under  which  their  minds  had 
grown  and  ripened.  Their  unsettled  and  unquiet  spirits 
were  the  legacy  which  popery^  bequeatlied  us  ;  "  tearing 
us"  when  it  "hardly  departed  from  us."  They  strove 
with  all  the  earnestness  of  men  who  had  a  great  reality 
at  stake  ;  it  was,  as  it  seemed  to  them,  for  the  very  life 
of  their  own  souls,  and  of  their  children's  souls,  that  they 
contended.  Yet  they  strove  in  ignorance  :  in  seeking  to 
do  away  the  errors  which  had  crept  over  them,  they 
would  fain  have  overthrown  the  institutions  of  Christ  Him- 
self. Tho.se  who  saw  this  were  bound  to  withhold  fi-om 
them  that  for  which  they  longed.  And  so  the  old  feelings 
of  hostility,  which  the  abuses  of  her  Roman  garb  had 
kindled,  fastened  now  upon  the  Church  reformed.  It  be- 
came again  an  open  struggle.  Law  was  on  the  side  of  those 
who  were  defending  the  existing  institutions  ;  and  by  the 
law  the  rights  of  truth  were  enforced.  In  such  a  temper 
of  society  it  was  hard  to  draw  the  line  at  all  times  be- 
tween persecution  and  a  due  resistance  to  the  spread  of 
error.  The  limits  of  toleration  had  been  ascertained  by 
neither  party  ;  and  it  is  no  great  admission  to  allow  that 
they  were  now  sometimes  transgressed  by  the  defenders  of 
the  Church.  Every  thing,  indeed,  tended  to  lead  them 
into  such  a  course  ;  they  were  maintaimng  what  had 
clearly  stood  from  the  first  spread  of  Christianity.  The 
attacks  now  made  on  this  must  in  their  eyes  have  been 
manifest  impiety.  They  were  led  on,  moreover,  by  ano- 
ther influence.  The  Puritans  were  made  bad  subjects  by 
the  very  same  qualities  which  made  them  bad  Churclmien. 
3 


50  AMERICAN    CHUHCH. 

The  secular  arm,  therefore,  was  ready  to  strike  in  its  own 
quarrel,  and  glad  to  take  advantage  of  the  first  whisper  of 
the  cause  of  religion.  It  was  not  now  for  toleration  sim- 
ply that  the  Puritans  were  striving.  During  their  exile 
in  the  reign  of  Mary,  they  had  learned  all  the  lessons 
taught  by  Calvin  and  John  Knox.  Their  consciences 
compelled  them,  not  only  to  practice  themselves  what 
they  deemed  right,  but,  at  all  hazards,  to  enfore  this  prac- 
tice upon  others  also.  "  The  Puritans  of  this  age,"  says 
the  gentle  Fuller,*  "  were  divided  into  two  ranks  :  some 
mild  and  moderate,  contented  to  enjoy  their  own  conscience  ; 
others  fierce  and  fiery,  to  the  disturbance  of  the  Church 
and  State  ;"  "  accounting  every  thmg  from  Rome  which 
was  not  from  Geneva,  they  endeavored  to  conform  the 
government  of  the  English  Church  to  the  presbyterian 
reformation." 

It  was  Elizabeth's  maxim,  that  the  first  of  these 
classes  should  be  conciliated  to  the  uttermost.  And  hence 
Cartwright,  Travers,  and  all  the  great  leaders  of  the 
party,  were  at  this  time  allowed  to  act  as  beneficed  or 
licensed  preachers. 

But  when  "  causes  of  conscience  exceed  their  bounds, 
and  grow  to  be  matters  of  faction,"  to  use  the  words  of 
Sir  F.  Walsingham,t  "  the  queen  judged  them  to  '  lose 
their  nature,'  and  become  such  that  they  should  be  dis- 
tinctly punished,  though  colored  with  the  pretences  of 
conscience  and  religion."  How  completely  this  limit  had 
been  i-eached  may  easily  be  seen.  Five  hundred  Puritans, 
"  all  beneficed  in  the  Church  of  England,"  and  styled  by 
themselves  "  useful  preachers,"  resolved,  in  1586,  "that 
since  the  magistrate  could  not  be  induced  to  reform  the 
discipline  of  the  Church,  that  therefore,  after  so  many  years 
waiting,  it  was  lawful  to  act  without  him,  and  introduce 
a  reformation  in  the  best  manner  they  could." 

The  language  of  their  ruder  partisans  may  yet  be  read 
in  the  pages  of  Martin  Mar-prelate  and  his  fellows.  They 
do  not  speak  the  tone  of  men  trembling  and  groaning  un- 
der dominant  oppression:  "  Our  bishops,"  says  they,  "  and 

*  Church  Hist,  book  ix.  p.  76.       j  Burnet's  Hist.  Reform,  vol.  ii. 


THE    PURITANS.  51 

proud,  popish,  presumptuous,  paltry,  pestilent,  and  pei-ni- 
cious  prelates,  are  usurpers.  Tliey  are  cotrging  and  cozen- 
ing knaves.  The  bishops  will  lie  like  dogs;  impudent, 
shameless,  -wainscot-laced  bishops.  Your  fat  places  are 
anli-ehristian  ;  they  are  limbs  of  anti-christ,"*  &c.  "  Our 
lord  bishops,  as  Jolin  of  Canterbury,  with  the  rest  of  such 
swmish  rabble,  are  petty  anti-christs,  petty  popes,  proud 
prelates,  enemies  to  the  Gospel,  and  most  covetous, 
wretched  priests."!  And  the  aim  of  this  revihng  was 
openly  declared  :  "The  Puritan  preachers  would  have  all 
the  remnants  and  relics  of  anti-christ  banished  out  of  the 
Church,  and  not  so  much  as  a  lord  bishop  (no,  not  his 
grace  himself,)  dumb  minister,  (no,  not  dumb  John  of  Lon- 
don himself)  non-resident,  archdeacon,  abbey-lubber,  or 
any  such  loiterer,  tolerated  in  our  ministry." 

This  is  not  the  language  of  men  seeking  toleration  under 
religious  scruples,  but  of  coarse  and  open  assailants  of  ex- 
isting institutions. 

Nor  was  this  the  mere  vulgarity  of  uneducated  ribaldry. 
It  is  true  that  there  were  many  better  men  amongst  the 
Puritans ;  but  it  was  such  teinpers  as  these  against  which 
the  ruling  powers  were  forced  to  take  up  arms.  And  these 
were  not  the  lowest  of  their  faction.  Martin  Mar-prelate, 
it  was  known,  came  from  their  leaders'  pens  ;  and  that 
great  intellect  and  station  could  not  heal  the  bitterness  of 
faction,  may  be  seen  somewhat  later  in  the  prose  works  of 
John  Milton  himself  AVith  less  coarseness  of  tongue,  but 
certainly  Avith  no  less  rancor,  he  dooms  the  bishops  of  the 
English  Church,  "  after  a  shameful  life  in  this  world,  to 
the  darkest  and  deepest  gulf  of  hell  ;  where,  under  the 
despiteful  control,  the  trample  and  spurn,  of  all  the  other 
damned,  who  in  the  anguish  of  their  torture  shall  have  no 
other  ease  than  to  exercise  a  raving  and  bestial  tyranny 
over  them,  as  their  slaves  and  negroes,  they  shall  remain 
in  that  plight  for  ever,  the  basest,  the  lowermost,  the  most 
dejected,  most  underfoot,  and  do-s^ai-trodden  vassals  of  per- 
dition.'"! 

*  Strype's  "Whitgift,  vol.  i.  p.  570. 

t  Ibid,  p.  353. 

:j;  Conclusion  of  Milton's  treatise  on  Reformation,  i.  27-t. 


52  AMEUICAN    CHURCH. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  wonderful  if  Churchmen,  who,  on 
their  part,  had  a  strong  perception  of  the  contrary  truth, 
let  the  arm  of  law  fall  heavily  upon  those  who  numbered 
in  the  ranks  of  their  supporters  such  troublesome  disputants. 
The  true  source  of  the  evil  was  in  that  former  unfaithful- 
ness of  those  who  should  have  been  the  watchmen  and 
stewards  of  the  Lord,  which  had  made  the  Church  hateful, 
not  to  infidels,  because  they  abhorred  religion,  but  to  earnest 
believers,  because  they  loved  it,  and  the  memory  of  which 
made  many  good  men  still  her  enemies,  though  she  was 
now  wholly  in  the  right.  The  points  for  which  she  con- 
tended M-ere  the  very  guards  and  instruments  of  the  truth  ; 
they  could  have  wounded  no  sound  conscience.  But  "  op- 
pression, which  maketh  a  wise  man  mad,"  had  held  a  long 
rule ;  men's  consciences  had  become  festered  and  angry, 
and  could  not  bear  the  light  touch  of  lawful  authority. 
The  time  for  the  full  working  of  this  evil  was  not  indeed 
yet  come  ;  but  all  through  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  it  was 
gathering  strength,  and  injuring  more  and  more  the  hearts 
of  those  whom  it  infected.  In  the  following  reign  it  was 
scarcely  repressed  by  the  timid  watchfulness  of  James  ;  and 
in  his  son's  time  it  burst  forth  for  a  while  triumphant. 
Puritanism  was  then  seen  in  its  maturity ;  and  its  violence 
and  persecution  far  exceeded  any  excess  of  rigor  which 
could  be  charged  to  the  adherents  of  the  contrary  side.  If 
some  meeting-houses  had  been  heretofore  suppressed,  we 
know  not  of  one  which,  hke  our  cathedrals,  was  made  a 
stall  for  horses.  If  hatred  to  Puritanism  sharpened  the 
edge  of  that  sentence  which,  for  a  malicious  libel  on  the 
queen,  deprived  Prynne  of  his  ears,*  Puritanism  could  not 
slake  its  vengeance  till  it  beheaded  Laud.  If  Puritans 
were  forced  by  Glueen  Elizabeth  to  be  present  in  their 
parish-church,  the  Parliament  of  1645  sentenced  to 'one 
year's  impiisonment  any  one  who  for  the  third  time  made 
use,  publicly  or  privately,  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
But  the  earlier  stages  of  the  struggle  are  those  with  which 


*  Prynne  himself  confessed  afterwards,  that  if,  when  Charles  took 
his  ears,  he  had  taken  his  head,  he  had  given  him  no  more  than  his 
due. 


PURITANISM.  53 

we  have  to  do.  In  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth,  ami  Jaraes 
the  First,  the  Puritans  strove  for  the  mastery  in  vain  ;  the 
law  enforced  conformity  ;  they  must  attend  their  parish- 
church.  The  mini.strations  of  their  chosen  teachers  were 
impeded..  Tlie  cause  of  truth,  of  Christ's  Gospel,  and  of 
their  souls,  seemed  to  them  in  peril ;  they  looked  this  way 
and  that  lor  deliverance ;  they  could  not  rest  as  they  were ; 
they  believed  that  it  was  unlawful  to  submit  to  "  the  base 
and  beggarly  ceremonies"*  (as  they  did  not  lear  to  term 
them)  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  were  therefore  bent 
on  bringing  in  a  "reformation  cut  or  shapen  after  the  man- 
ner of  Embden  or  Geneva."! 

However  mistaken  was  flieir  zeal,  they  gave  abundant 
proof  of  its  sincerity.  Finding  it  impossible  to  follow  out 
their  own  convictions  in  their  native  laud,  they  were  con- 
tent to  forsake  it  rather  than  violate  what  they  deemed 
the  dictates  of  conscience.  They  resolved,  therefore,  on  a 
volimtary  expatriation  ;  and  cast  their  eyes  first  on  Hol- 
land, which  favored  their  peculiar  views,  as  the  land  of 
their  pilgrimage.  But  this  step  could  not  easily  be  taken  ; 
the  consent  of  the  civil  magistrate  was  then  necessary  for 
such  an  emigration,  and  this  they  were  not  likely  to  obtain. 
Accordingly  they  endeavored  to  fly  the  country  secretly. 
In  Lincolnshire  especially,  a  numerous  band  gathering  to- 
gether their  goods  and  families,  in  places  which  they 
thought  likely  to  escape  notice,  embarked  on  board  a  foreign 
transport  they  had  hired.  They  were,  however,  watched, 
and  their  embarkation  was  prevented  ;  nor  was  it  till  after 
various  attempts  and  many  hardships,  that  "  at  length 
they  all  got  over ;  some  at  one  time,  and  some  at  another  ; 
some  in  one  place,  and  some  in  another."  Being  "  come 
into  the  Low  Countries,"  they  settled  first  at  Amsterdam  ; 
though  "  they  mette  together  againe  with  no  small  rejoic- 
ing," yet  had  they  still  much  to  endure.  They  found  there 
"  fortified  cities  strongly  walled  ;  they  heard  a  strange  and 
uncouth  language,  and  beheld  the  different  manners  of  the 


*  MS.  History  of  the  Plantation  of  Plymouth,  &c., — in  the  Fulhani 
Library, 
t  Ibid. 


54  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

people  with  their  strange  fashions  and  attires,  all  so  much 
differing  from  that  of  their  plain  country  where  they  were 
bred,  and  so  long  lived."  Before  long,  moreover,  they  saw 
"  the  grim  and  grisly  face  of  povertie  coming  upon  them 
like  an  armed  man  with  whom  they  must  buckle  and  en- 
counter." Under  the  prudent  guidance  of  Mr.  Robinson, 
a  man  of  great  parts,  Mdio  came  with  them  as  their  first 
pastor,  they  surmounted  these  dilliculties,  and  were  soon 
established  in  tolerable  comfort  at  Leyden.  There  they 
remained  twelve  years  ;  but  many  things  prevented  their 
taking  root  amongst  the  Dutch.  Though  their  industry 
and  honesty,  with  the  interest  which  attached  to  their  po- 
sition, had  secured  for  them  sufficient  employment  to  pro- 
vide for  their  absolute  necessities,  yet  in  that  shrewd  and 
pojDulous  nation  they  found  themselves  continually  fore- 
stalled by  the  natives  of  the  country.  They  had  been  led 
to  take  a  part  in  the  religious  controversies  which  divided 
that  people ;  and  the  skill  and  readiness  in  debate,  which 
gained  for  Mr.  Robinson  the  highest  applauses  from  Polyan- 
der  and  the  Calvinists,  must  have  equally  displeased  the 
friends  of  Episcopius,  the  champion  of  the  opposite  side. 
The  truce  also,  which  had  now  lasted  twelve  years,  between 
the  Netherlands  and  Spain,  was  just  expiring;  and  if  they 
remained  at  Leyden,  they  knew  not  how  soon  they  might 
be  involved  in  all  the  miseries  of  war.  * 

Other  motives  were  supplied  by  their  peculiar  religious 
views.  Although,  in  the  main,  the  congregations  round 
them  were  formed  upon  their  own  model,  yet  there  were 
many  things  with  which  they  were  not  satisfied.  The 
Puritans  entbi'ced  the  duty  of  observing  the  Lord's  day  with 
the  formal  strictness  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  they  feared 
the  eflect  upon  their  children  of  the  opposite  example  of  the 
Dutch.  Already  the  strictness  of  their  parental  rule  had 
been  relaxed  through  the  necessity  of  their  position.  "  Many 
of  their  children  (by  the  great  licentiousness  of  youth  in  that 
country  and  the  manifold  temptations  of  the  place)  were 
drawn  away  into  extravagant  and  evil  courses,  getting  the 
reigns  off  their  necks  ....  so  that  they  saw  their  posteritie 
would  be  in  danger  to  degenerate  and  be  corrupted."*' 
-*  Fulham  jis.  History. 


PLANS    OF    PURITAN    EMIGRATION.  55 

They  longed,  too,  for  something  more  than  toleration  ;  tlicy 
desired  to  set  up  churches  after  their  own  model  of  perfec- 
tion, and  to  watch  their  growth  and  progress. 

The  temper  of  the  times  naturally  turned  their  thoughts 
to  the  new  world  ;  already  many  adventurers  had  emigrated 
thither.  There  they  might  unfold  their  present  small  be- 
ginning into  a  strong  people  and  a  pure  communion.  Who 
could  be  more  fitted  to  encounter  the  necessary  hardship  of 
such  an  enterprise  ?  Alreadj''  they  were  "  well  weaned 
from  the  delicate  millc  of  their  mother  country,  and  enured 
to  the  difficulties  of  a  strange  and  hard  land,  which  yet  in 
good  part  they  had  by  patience  overcome."*  The  example 
of  Abraham  seemed  set  before  them  as  a  model ;  and  at 
length,  after  many  misgivings,  they  resolved  upon  crossing 
the  Atlantic.  Their  thoughts  were  first  turned  to  Virginia, 
and  they  opened  a  negotiation  with  the  company  which 
then  governed  that  colon}'.  Several  letters  passed  upon 
the  subject ;  and  in  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  they  found  one  who, 
whilst  he  firmly  upheld  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth 
of  Christ,  was  ready  to  befriend  their  persons,  and  to  con- 
cede a  full  license  to  their  weak  consciences.  They  ac- 
knowledge, in  "  their  ownc  and  their  churches  name,  liis 
singular  love  in  tliis  weighty  business,"  and  trust  them- 
selves "  to  the  care  of  his  love  and  the  counsel  of  liis  wis- 
dom." Difliculties  still  interposed  :  the  king  could  not  "  be 
wrought  upon"  to  grant  them  a  charter  under  his  seal, 
though  he  was  wdUing  "  to  connive  at  them,  and  not  molest 
them,  provided  they  carried  themselves  peaceably."  This 
caused  for  a  time  "  a  damp  in  the  business,  and  some  dis- 
traction ;"  but  at  length  they  comforted  themselves  with 
the  thought,  that  even  if  they  had  obtained  their  charter, 
yet  if  "  afterwards  there  should  be  a  purpose  or  desire  to 
wrong  them,  though  they  had  a  scale  as  broad  as  the 
house-floor,  it  would  not  serve  their  turn,  for  there  would 
he  means  fomid  to  recall  or  reverse  it."  On  this  persua- 
sion they  at  length  resolved  on  settling  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Virginian  colony,  under  a  patent  granted  by  that 
colony.     It  was  also  determined  that  a  part  only  of  their 

*  Fulham  lis.  History. 


56  AMERICAN    CHTRCH. 

body  should  proceed  at  once,  leaving  its  weaker  members 
to  follow  when  the  settlement  was  formed. 

About  the  22d  July,  1620,  all  was  ready.  They  had 
one  ship  of  near  sixty  tons,  to  transport  them  to  England, 
where  they  were  to  join  another  of  1 80  tons,  and  proceed 
at  once  to  America.  Before  setting  sail  they  had  a  day  of 
"  solemn  humiliation,  their  pastor  taking  his  text  from 
Ezra  viii.  21,  upon  which  he  spent  a  good  part  of  the  day." 
They  were  afterwards  "  accompanied  with  most  of  their 
brethren  out  of  the  city  imto  Delft  Haven,  where  the  ship 
lay  ready  to  receive  them;"  "so  they  left,"  says  one  of 
their  party,  "  the  goodly  and  pleasante  citie  which  had 
been  their  resting-place  nere  twelve  years ;  but  they  knew 
that  they  were  pilgrimes,  and  looked  not  much  on  those 
things,  but  lift  up  their  eyes  to  the  heavens,  their  dearest 
countrie,  and  quieted  their  spirits."  It  was  an  aflecting 
parting  between  these  world-pilgrims  and  their  brethren 
left  behind,  and  even  drew  "  tears  from  sundry  of  the  Dutch 
strangers  that  stood  on  the  key  as  spectators  ;"  "  but  the 
tide  (which  stays  for  no  man)  calling  them  away  that  Avere 
thus  loath  to  depart,  their  reverend  pastor  falling  downe 
on  his  knees,  (and  they  all  with  him,)  with  waterie  cheeks 
commended  them,  with  most  fervente  prayers,  to  the  Lord 
and  His  blessing  ;  and  then,  with  mutual  embraces  and 
many  tears,  they  tooke  their  leaves  one  of  another,  which 
proved  to  be  the  last  leave  to  m.any  of  them."* 

They  had  a  prosperous  voyage  to  London  ;  but  many 
more  troubles  were  yet  before  them.  On  the  5th  of  August 
the  two  ships  sailed  in  company,  but  as  they  dropped  down 
the  Channel  the  smaller  ship  leaked  so  greatly,  that  they 
were  forced  to  put  in  to  Dartmouth  to  refit.  After  losing 
much  time  there  in  the  necessary  repairs,  they  again  set 
sail ;  but  after  proceeding  about  "  a  hundred  leagiies  with- 
out the  Land's  End,"  the  same  cause  sent  them  back  to 
Plymouth.  Here,  after  consultation,  they  determined  to 
leave  behind,  for  the  present  year,  the  faulty  ship  and  part 
of  their  company.  There  were  many  willing  to  be  left, 
some  "  out  of  feare  and  discontent,  others  as  unfite,  in  re- 

*  Fulhara  ms.  History. 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    TlIE    VOYAGE.  57 

gard  of  their  owne  weakness  and  charj^e  of  many  yonge 
eliildren,  to  bear  the  brunte  of  this  hard  adventure."  Thus, 
says  their  chronicler,  "  hke  Gredions  armie  tiiis  small  number 
was  devided  ;  as  if  the  Lord,  by  this  works  of  His  Provi- 
dence, thought  these  few  too  many  for  the  great  worke  He 
had  to  doe."  The  letter  of  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  expe- 
dition, written  whilst  they  lay  at  Dartmouth,  gives  a  hvely 
picture  of  one  of  tho.se  who  stayed  willmgly  behind  at  Ply- 
mouth, out  of  the  "  feare  he  had  conceived  of  the  ill  success 
of  the  voiage."  "  Our  pinass  will  not  cease  leaking,  els  I 
thinke  we  had  been  halfe  waye  at  Virginia :  our  viage 
hither  hath  been  as  full  of  crosses  as  ourselves  have  been 
of  crokedness.  We  put  in  here  to  trimme  her  ;  and  I  thiidie 
if  we  had  stayed  at  sea  but  three  or  four  houres  more,  shee 
would  have  sunke  right  downe.  Shee  is  as  open  and  leakie 
as  a  seive ;  there  was  a  borde  a  man  might  have  pulled  off 
with  his  fingers,  two  foote  longe,  where  the  water  came  in 
as  at  a  molehole.  Our  victuals  will  be  halfe  eaten  up,  I 
thinke,  before  wee  go  from  the  coast  of  England.  I  see 
not  how  we  shall  escape  even  the  gasping  of  hunger-starved 
persons.  Poore  W.  King  and  myselfe  doe  strive  dayly  who 
shall  be  meate  first  for  the  fishes." 

All  this  does  not  bespeak  in  its  writer  the  bold  heart 
which  such  an  adventure  needed,  especially  when  we  learn 
that  the  fear  of  the  party  had  been  practised  on  by  artful 
men  as  to  the  apparent  danger  of  the  lesser  vessel.  But 
there  were  amongst  them  some  braver  spirits  ;  and,  after  a 
fatiguing  voyage,  one  ship's  company  landed  on  the  9th  of 
November,  wearied  and  exhausted,  on  Cape  Cod.  The 
record  of  this  lauding  is  still  kept  alive  in  an  engraving  on 
the  certificate  of  membership,  as  used  at  this  day  by  the 
"  Pilgrim  Society"  of  Plymouth.*  They  had  been  brought 
thus  far  to  the  north  by  the  treachery  of  their  captain,! 
who  had  been  bribed  by  their  Dutch  neighbors  to  leave  the 
more  promising  banks  of  the  Hudson  open  for  an  intended 
colony  of  their  own.  On  this  inhospitable  shore  winter 
soon  set  in  upon  them  with  extreme  severity.     In  the  depths 

*  Buckingham's  America,  vol.  iii.  p.  566. 
f  Cotton  Mather's  Magiialia,  book  i,  p.  7. 
3* 


58  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

of  its  frosts,  however,  they  explored  enough  of  the  coast  to 
fix  upon  another  site  for  their  intended  settlement ;  and 
finding  a  commodious  harbor  at  the  bottom  of  the  bay,  they 
all  removed  thither,  and  laid  the  first  foundation  of  the 
future  town  of  Plymouth.  Here  their  first  winter  was 
spent  in  the  endurance  of  hardships  wliicli  wore  away 
"  more  than  half  their  whole  company,"  so  that  scarcely 
fifty  lived  to  the  ensuing  spring.  The  spot  where  the  dead 
were  laid  still  maintains  the  name  of  Burial  Hill.  It  was 
ploughed  u])  and  sowed  by  the  earliest  colonists,  lest  its 
graves  should  make  their  fearful  losses  known,  and  so  in- 
vite the  hostile  violence  of  the  surrounding  Indians. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  year  their  numbers  were  in- 
creased by  a  new  detachment  of  their  friends  from  Hol- 
land ;  but  their  supplies  were  yet  scanty,  and  their  perils 
extreme.  Still,  however,  they  held  to  their  purpose,  and 
a  stir  was  now  made  for  them  at  home.  In  1621,  several 
leading  Puritans  were  interested  in  their  undertaking.  In 
1G27  they  had  purchased  for  them  from  the  company,  in 
whom  title  to  the  land  was  vested  by  the  crown,  "  that 
part  of  New  England  which  lyes  between  a  great  river 
called  Merrimack,  and  a  certain  other  river  there  called 
Charles  River,  in  the  bottom  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay." 
And  in  the  following  year  a  royal  charter  was  granted  to 
them,  with  power  to  elect  yearly  their  own  magistrates  ; 
and  the  intention  was  openly  avowed  of  "  lettmg  the  non- 
confoi'mists,  with  the  grace  and  leave  of  the  king,  make  a 
peaceable  secession,  and  enjoy  the  liberty  and  the  exercise  of 
their  own  persuasions  about  the  worship  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." 

The  grant  of  this  charter  greatly  helped  on  their  cause  ; 
and  for  the  next  twelve  years  "  many  very  deserving 
persons  transplanted  thQ£nselves  and  their  families  to  New 
England,"*  amongst  whom  were  "  gentlemen  of  ancient 
and  worshipful  families,  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel  then 
of  great  fame  at  home,  and  merchants,  husbandmen,  and 
artificers,  to  the  number  of  some  thousands."  It  was 
reckoned    that    198    ships'  were    employed,   at  a  cost   of 

"  Cotton  Mather's  Mixgaalia,  book  i. 


PURITAN    SETTLEMENTS.  59 

192,000Z.,  to  carry  over  these  emigrants,  who  for  these 
"  twelve  years  kept  sometiraes  dropping,  and  sometimes 
fvocking  into  New  England."  In  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1630,  Winthrop,  wlio  must  be  considered  as  the  founder 
of  New  England,  arrived  with  a  fleet  of  seventeen  vessels, 
and  about  1500  men,  some  of  whom,  like  himself,  were 
persons  of  condition,  education,  and  fortune.  Without  this 
reinforcement,  to  all  human  appearance,  the  settlement  at 
Plymouth*  would  have  proved  abortive.  By  tlie  year 
16  10,  the  settlers  were  supposed  to  have  amounted  to  4000 
persons,  who  are  said  in  fifty  years  to  have  multiplied  into 
100,000.  As  their  numbers  increased,  they  branched  out 
into  the  surrounding  country,  until,  in  1637,  the  neighbor- 
ing territory  of  Connecticut  was  occupied  by  men  of  the 
same  sentiments  ;  and,  "  along  the  seacoasts  of  that  plea- 
sant bay"  began  another  colony,  which  soon  "  surprised 
the  sight  Avith  several  notable  toA\ais,"  and  even  extended 
itself  to  Long  Island,  Ibllowing  strictly  in  religious  matters 
the  "  use  of  Massachusetts."  To  the  north,  also,  and  east, 
New  Hampshire  and  the  state  of  Maine  began  to  receive 
some  straggling  settlers,  who  adopted  almost  the  same 
model  in  religious  matters. 

Many  trials  waited  on  these  little  bands,  which,  "toil- 
ing through  thickets  of  ragged  bushes,  and  clambering  over 
crossed  trees,  made  their  M^ay  along  Indian  paths"  to  the 
new  sites  on  which  they  fixed.  "  The  suffering  settlers 
burrowed  for  their  first  shelter  under  a  hill-side.  Tearing 
up  roots  and  buishes,  from  the  ground,  they  subdued  the 
stubborn  soil  with  the  hoe,  glad  to  gain  even  a  lean  crop 
from  the  wearisome  and  imperfect  culture.  The  cattle 
sickened  on  the  wild  fodder ;  sheep  and  swine  were  de- 
stroyed by  wolves  ;  there  A^-as  no  ilesh  but  game.  The 
long  rains  poured  through  the  insufficient  roofs  of  their 
smoky  cottages,  and  troubled  even  the  time  for  sleep  ;  yet 
the  men  labored  willingly,  for  they  had  their  wives  and 
little  ones  about  them  ;  the  forest  rung  with  their  psalms, 
and,  '  the  poorest  people  of  God  in  the  whole  world,  they 

*  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  remained  separate  colonics,  till,  on 
tho  accession  of  Wiliiuni  and  Mary,  a  new  charter  was  granted, 
which  inclucled  Plymouth  as  a  part  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts. 


60  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

were  resolved  to  excel  in  holiness.'     Such  was  the  infancy 
of  a  New-England  village."* 

Thus,  then,  were  these  wide  districts  first  settled,  and 
with  their  very  earliest  texture  were  thus  interwoven  the 
threads  of  congregational  dissent.  The  name  of  Indepen- 
dents they  eschewed.!  Their  especial  features  were  a  re- 
jection of  episcopacy,  of  the  use  of  "  common  prayer,"  and 
of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church.  Each  congregation  of 
worshippers,  united  by  a  willing  bond  or  covenant,  sub- 
mitting themselves  to  a  pastor  of  their  own  choice,  and 
exercising  discipline,  through  certain  ruling  elders,  accord- 
ing to  what  they  quaintly  termed  "  the  scriptural  platform," 
formed  a  separate  "  church,"  which  could  have  no  alliance, 
save  that  of  friendly  alliance,  with  other  "churches,"  nor 
own  any  submission  except  to  their  common  Lord.  For 
this,  which  they  esteemed  a  more  perfect  reformation,  they 
had  left  their  native  land,  and  become  settlers  in  the  wild- 
erness. 

It  is  pleasant  to  believe  that  there  were  amongst  them 
many  whose  whole  hearts  were  governed  by  a  strong  per- 
sonal religion  ;  whilst  it  is  as  plain  that  their  consciences 
were  often  scrupulous,  and  their  self-will  in  religion  great. 
Of  their  earnest  piety  abundant  records  are  preserved.  It 
was  their  first  care,  when  they  settled  in  the  west,  to  join 
themselves  together  in  "  a  covenant  with  God,"  and  accord- 
ing to  their  forms,  "to  constitute  themselves  a  Christian 
Church."  The  lives  and  writings  of  their  early  magis- 
trates and  governors  are  full  of  proofs  of  personal  religion. 
Notliing  but  conscious  uprightness  could  have  enabled  a 
father  to  write  to  a  grown-up  son  as  John  Winthrop,  go- 
vernor of  Massachusetts,  wrote  to  his  son,  who  filled  after- 
wards the  same  office  in  Connecticut.  "  You  are  the  chief 
of  two  families.  I  had  by  your  mother  three  sons  and 
three  daughters,  and  I  had  with  her  a  large  portion  of  out- 
ward estate.  These  now  are  all  gone.  .  .  You  only  are 
left  to  see  the  vanity  of  these  temporal  things,  and  to  learn 
wisdom  thereby  ;  which  may  be  of  more  use  to  you,  tlirougli 

*  Bancroft's  United  States,  vol.  i.  p.  382. 
f  Cotton  Mather's  Magnalia. 


JOHN   WINTHROP.  61 

the  Lords  blossiug,  than  all  that  inheritance  which  might 
have  befallen  you.  .  .  .  My  son,  the  Lord  knows  how  dear 
thou  art  to  me,  and  that  my  love  has  been  more  for  thee 
than  for  myself.  But  I  know  that  thy  prosperity  depends 
not  on  my  care,  nor  on  thy  own,  but  upon  the  blessing  of 
our  heavenly  Father  :  neither  doth  it  on  the  things  of  this 
world,  but  on  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  through  the 
merit  and  mediation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  if  you 
weigh  things  aright,  and  sum  up  all  the  turnings  of  divine 
Providence  together,  you  shall  find  great  advantage.  The 
Lord  hath  brought  us  to  a  good  land  ;  a  land  where  we 
enjoy  outward  peace  and  liberty,  and,  above  all,  the  bless- 
ings of  the  Gospel,  without  the  burden  of  imposition  in 
matters  of  religion.  Many  thousands  there  are  who  would 
give  great  estates  to  enjoy  our  condition.  Labor,  therefore, 
my  son,  to  increase  our  thankfulness  to  God  for  all  His 
mercies  to  thee,  especially  for  that  He  hath  revealed  His 
everlasting  good  will  to  thee  in  Jesus  Chi'ist,  and  joined 
thee  to  the  visible  body  of  His  Church  in  the  fellowship  of 
His  people,  and  hath  saved  thee  in  all  thy  travels  abroad 
from  being  infected  with  the  vices  of  those  countries  where 
thou  hast  been  (a  mercy  vouchsafed  but  unto  few  young 
gentlemen  travellers.)  Let  Him  have  the  honor  of  it  who 
kept  thee.  .  .  .  And  therelore  I  would  have  you  to  love 
Him  again,  and  serve  Him,  and  trust  Him  for  the  time  to 
come.  Love  and  prize  that  word  of  truth  which  only 
makes  known  to  you  the  precious  and  eternal  thoughts  of 
the  Light  inaccessible.  Deny  your  own  wisdom,  that  you 
may  find  His  ;  and  esteem  it  the  greatest  honor  to  lie  under 
the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  crucified.  ...  In  all 
the  exercise  of  your  gifts  and  improvement  of  your  talents, 
have  an  eye  to  your  Master's  end  more  than  your  own, 
and  to  the  day  of  account,  that  you  may  then  have  your 
gidctus  est, — even  '  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant.' 
My  last  request  unto  you  is,  that  you  be  careful  to  have 
youv  children  brought  up  in  the  knowledge  and  I'ear  of 
God,  and  in  the  faith  of  our  Lord  .Tesus  Christ.  This  will 
give  you  the  best  comfort  of  them,  and  keep  them  free 
from  any  want  or  miscarriage  ;  and  when  you  part  from 


62  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

them,  it  will  be  no  small  joy  to  your  soul  that  you  shall 
meet  them  again  in  heaven."* 

Such  a  spirit  as  this,  carried  out,  as  it  seems  to  have 
been,  for  ten  years  of  renewed  elective  government  over 
the  tottering  feebleness  of  the  infant  colony  of  Massachu- 
setts, might  vi^ell  earn  for  Winthrop  the  title  which,  in  the 
manner  of  his  times,  old  Mather  bestows  upon  him,  of  the 
"  New-English  Nehemiah."  Yet  amidst  this  early  promise 
we  may  find  traces  of  those  evils  which  multiplied  at  home 
so  rankly  in  the  great  rebellion  ;  as  if  to  show  how  short- 
lived and  uncertain  is  the  growth  of  personal  religion,  when 
taken  from  the  shelter  and  protection  of  the  Church.  There 
are  many  proofs  that  these  New-England  settlers  were 
a,mongst  the  very  movers  in  those  aftei'-troubles.  The  no- 
torious Hugh  Peters  (who  preached  afterwards  in  England 
in  favor  of  the  murder  of  the  king)  was  a  pastor  at  Boston ; 
and  there  seems  no  good  reason  for  doubting  that  Sir  Ar- 
thur Haselrig,  Mr.  Hampden,  and  Cromwell  himself,  were 
intercepted  on  the  Thames  embarking  for  these  colonies : 
Sir  Henry  Vane  the  younger,  touching  there  in  1636,  was 
immediately  elected  governor  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  at  the 
close  of  the  rebellion  no  fewer  than  three  of  the  regicides 
found  shelter  in  New-England. 

Neither  here,  indeed,  nor  in  England  had  the  Puritans 
as  yet  woi'ked  out  all  the  consequences  of  their  teuets.  At 
Massachusetts  they  at  first  declared  that  they  "  were  not 
separatists — that  they  did  not  separate  from  the  Church 
of  England  ;"t  and  when  some  who  joined  them  thought 
to  recommend  themselves  by  "  holding  forth  a  profession 
of  separation  from  the  Church  of  England, "-t  tliey  were 
"stopped  forthwith"  by  the  New-England  pastors.  But 
this  was  only  the  coyness  of  early  schism.  They  were,  in 
truth,  most  hostile  to  her ;  holding  the  "  composition  of 
common-prayer  and  ceremonies  to  be  a  siirful  violation  of 
the  M^orship  of  God  ;"§  "  and  archbishops,  bishops,  arch- 
deacons, olficials,  and  the  like,  to  be  humane  creature?., 
mere  inventions  of  man,  to  the   great  dishonor  of  Christ 

*  Cottdii  M;itliei's  Magnalia,  buok  ii.  cap.  11. 
t  C.  Mather,  book  i.  c.  4.  %  lb.  c  iii. 

§  lb.  ut  supra. 


PURITAN   SPIHIT.  63 

Jesus;  plants  not  of  the  Lord's  planting:,  which  all  should 
cortaiuly  be  rooted  up  and  cast  forth."*  Some,  indeed, 
went  farther  still.  The  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Newhaven  settlement  declared,  "that  all  vicars,  rectors, 
deans,  priests,  and  bishops,  are  of  tlie  devil ;  are  wolves, 
petty  popes,  and  anti-christiau  tyrants."!  "It  is  a  heinous 
sin,"  they  declared,  "to  be  present  when  prayers  are  read 
out  of  a  book  by  a  vicar  or  bishop  :"  nay,  they  jjo  on  to 
say,  "  that  the  lovers  of  Zion  had  better  put  their  ears  to 
the  mouth  of  hell,  and  learn  from  the  whispers  of  the  de- 
vils, than  read  the  bishops'  books. "$  When  the  overthrow 
of  the  Church  of  England  was  made  known  in  the  colonies, 
their  exultation  broke  forth  in  such  rhapsodies  as  these  : 
"  This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  ought  to  be  marvellous  in 

our  eyes I  have  snared  thee,  and  thou  art  taken,  0 

Babylon,  i.   e.  bishops These   proud   Anakims    are 

throwne  downe,  and  their  glory  laid  in  the  dust.  Tbe 
tiranous  bishops  are  expelled,  their  courts  dissolved,  their 
canons  forceless,  their  service  cashiered,  their  ceremonies 
useless  and  despised  ;  and  the  proud  and  profane  supporters 
and  cruel  defenders  of  these,  marvellouslie  overthrowne  : 
and  are  not  these  greate  things  ?  who  can  deny  it  ?"§  So 
strong,  indeed,  were  their  principles,  that  even  their  zeal- 
ous Puritan  eulogist  avows  his  "  fear  that  the  leaven  of 
that  rigid  thing  they  call  Bro\«iism  has  prevailed  some- 
times a  little  of  the  farthest  in  the  administrations  of  this 
pious  people  ;"||  and  complains  of  "  religion  behig  like  to 
die  at  Plymouth,  through  a  libertine  and  Brownistic^f  spirit 
prevailing  among.st  the  people."** 

The  want  of  the  appointed  band  of  unity  was  already 
broadly  seen  in  the  religious  state  of  the  settlements.     The 

*  A  Platf.jrm  of  Church  Discipline,  agreed  upon  at  the  synod  at 
Cambridge,  New  England,  cap.  vii.,  1649. 

f  History  of  Connecticut,  1781.  %  Ibid. 

§  Fulhara  mss.  ||  Magn.  b.  ii.  c.  2. 

«jf  Robert  Browne  was  the  founder  of  the  "  Independent"  Dis- 
•enters.  who  long  bore  the  name  of  Brownist'?  from  him.  He  is  des- 
cribed bv  Neal  (i.  375.  376),  the  dissenting  historian,  as  being  a  "  fiery, 
hot-headed  young  man;"  "idle  and  dissolute"  in  middle  life;  and  in 
old  age,  '•  poor,  proud,  and  very  passionate."     He  died  in  1630. 

*»  Magn.  b.  i.  c.  3. 


64  AMERICAN    cmjRCII. 

Puritan  magistrates  watched  with  terror  the  Working  out 
of  their  own  opinions  in  the  unUmited  divisions  of  the  peo- 
ple. Even  in  their  judgment  "  the  cracks  and  flaws  of  tlae 
new  building  portended  a  fall."*  On  the  other  side  they 
were  reproached  as  being  "priest-ridden  magistrates, "i" 
tmder  "  a  covenant  of  works."  The  Presbyterian  ministers 
were  greeted  with  the  same  epithets  which  had  been  be- 
stowed upon  the  clergy  at  home ;  they  were  "  the  ushers 
of  persecution, "+  "  popish  factors,"  and  the  like.  In  action 
also  their  own  principles  were  turned  against  them.  Roger 
Williams,  a  "  zealous  young  minister,  with  precious  gifts," 
headed  the  opposition  of  a  faction  to  the  "control  over  opin- 
ion," wliich  his  brethren  attempted  to  maintain.  He  wag 
Avilling  to  die  for  his  opinion,  that  "  none  be  accounted  a 
delinquent  for  doctrine."  It  was  in  vain  that  he  Avas  driven 
out  to  become  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island  ;  his  wildest 
opinions  were  enlarged  by  Anne  Hutchinson,  "a  woman  of 
such  admirable  understanding  and  '  profitable  and  sober 
carriage,'  that  she  won  a  powerful  party  in  the  country."^ 
She  not  only  "  weakened  the  hands  and  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple towards  the  ministers, "||  but  set  aside  all  fixed  forms  of 
faith  and  laws  of  conduct,  with  the  .pretence  of  being  guided 
by  "  a  new  rule  of  practice,  by  immediate  revelations. "*U 
This  she  explained  to  mean,  not  a  special  revelation  "in 
the  way  of  miracle,"  but  merely  that  the  impression  of  his 
own  mind  was  to  every  one  the  true  rule  both  of  belief  and 
practice.  She  was  succeeded  by  Gordon,  who,  with  his 
followers,  openly  inveighed  against  the  whole  body  of  colo- 
nial ministers,  and  in  his  dreamy  reveries,  proclaimed  that 
there  was  no  heaven  save  in  the  hearts  of  the  good,  nor 
any  hell  but  in  the  mind.  The  (Quakers  also  soon  sprung 
up  in  this  congenial  soil ;  and  as  she  wandered  about  "  to 
build  up  their  friends  in  the  faith,"  Mary  Dyar  proclaimed 
against  the  New-England  pastors  her  "  woe  is  me  for  you, 
ye  are  disobedient  and  deceived." 

*  Shepherd's  Lamentation,  quoted  by  Bancroft. 

f  ("oddingtoa,  iu  ditto.  Ij.  Ditto. 

§  Bancroft. 

11  Winthrop,  in  Hutch.,  quoted  by  Bancroft. 

•(f  "Welde,  in  Bancroft,  cap.  ix. 


PURITAN    INTOLERANCE.  65 

It  was  in  vain  that  the  whole  civil  power  attempted  to 
check  the  growth  of  these  multiplying  sects ;  it  Avas  in  vain 
that  the  pviritan  magistrates  used  without  scruple  the  very 
arms  of  which  at  home  they  had  made  the  loudest  com- 
plahits.  Like  the  Independents  in  England,  they  had 
learned  from  their  oaatt  sufl'erings  no  lesson  of  toleration  to- 
M'ards  others.  "  To  say  that  men  ought  to  have  liberty  of 
conscience,"  affirms  one  of  their  great  authorities,  "is 
impious  ignorance."*  "Religion  admits  of  no  eccentric 
notions."  Banishment  was  their  first  and  favorite  remedy. 
"  For  the  security  of  the  flock  we  pen  up  the  w^olf ;  but  a 
door  is  purposely  left  open,  whereby  he  may  depart  at  his 
pleasure."!  This  was  enforced  on  all  who  difiered  from  the 
reigning  sect. 

Two  brothers,  Church-of-England  men,  a  lawyer  and  a 
merchant,  who  had  joined  unawares  the  settlement  of  Sa- 
lem, finding  how  matters  stood,  ventured  to  "  uphold"  in 
their  own  house,  "  for  such  as  would  resort  unto  them,  the 
Common-Prayer  worship. "|  But  such  an  enormity  they 
M^ere  not  long  sufiered  to  continue  ;  for  "  a  disturbance 
arising  amongst  the  people  upon  this  occasion,"  the  bro- 
thers were  called  before  the  magistrates,  and  "so  handled 
as  to  be  induced  to  leave  the  colony  forthAA-ith."  Nor  was 
it  Churchmen  alone  of  whom  they  thus  rid  themselves. 
They  dealt  the  like  measure  to  all  sectaries  Avho  were  not 
of  their  own  persuasion.  "  No  food,"  runs  one  of  their  brief 
laws,  "and  lodgings  shall  be  allowed  a  Quaker,  Adamite, 
or  other  heretic. "§  It  was  judged  sufficient  reason  to  ex- 
pel a  household  from  the  town  of  Salem,  that  its  head  was 
by  confession  "  a  dam-ned  Gluaker."  Where  banishment 
failed  of  e fleeting  its  purpose,  they  were  not  slow  in  using 
other  methods.  Fines,  imprisonments,  stripes,  and  even 
death  itself,  were  amongst  their  remedies;  for  "  God  for- 
bid," say  they,  "  that  our  love  of  truth  should  be  so  cold 
that  we  should  tolerate  errors."  Convicted  Anabaptists 
were  fined  twenty  pounds,  or  "  whipped  unmercifully  ;" 
"  absence  from  the  ministry  of  the  word"  was  treated  in 

*  Ward,  quoted  by  Bancroft,  cap.  x.  f  Norton  in  Bancroft. 

X  Magn.  b.  i.  c.  4.  §  Blue  Code,  No.  13. 


66  AMERICAN    CHURCH, 

like  manner  by  men  whose  main  complaint  in  England 
had  been,  that  they  were  compelled  to  be  present  at  their 
parish  church.  But  of  all  sects,  the  Gluakers  were  the 
most  severely  handled.  Of  them  Cotton  Mather  gravely 
writes,  when  treating  of  the  troublers  of  the  land  :  "  There 
have  been  found  amongst  us  some  unhappy  sectaries — 
namely,  Gluakers  and  b'eekers,  and  such  other  energu- 
mens."*  As  such  they  were  treated.  Fines  were  levied 
on  any  Avho  harbored  the  "accursed  sect  ;"t  whilst 
"  Friends"  themselves  were  sentenced,  after  the  first  con- 
viction, to  lose  one  ear ;  after  the  second,  another ;  and 
after  the  third,  to  have  the  tongue  bored  through  Avith  a 
red-hot  iron.  "  If  any  person,"  say  the  Puritan  laws. 
"  turns  duaker,  he  shall  be  banished,  and  not  suflered  to 
return  on  pain  of  death. "|  Nor  was  this  an  inoperative 
statute.  Many  Gluakers  in  New  England  were  put  to 
death  for  the  profession  of  their  faith,  until  an  order  from 
King  Charles  II.  brought  this  violence  to  a  close. § 

Such  was  the  religious  liberty  of  Presbyterian  New- 
England  twenty  years  after  the  true  doctrine  of  toleration 
had  been  carried  out  in  Maryland.  But  this  tone  of  harsh- 
ness pervaded  the  Puritan  character.  It  dictated  the 
"  Blue  Code"  of  Connecticut  ||  (so  named,  according  to  pro- 
bable conjecture,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring 
settlements  from  its  being  written,  as  it  were,  in  blood), 
which  amongst  other  things  enjoins,  that  "no  one  shall  run 
on  the  Sabbath-day,  or  walk  in  his  garden,  or  elsewhere, 
except  reverently  to  and  from  meeting  ;"  which  makes  it 
criminal  in  a  mother  to  kiss  her  infant  on  the  Sabbath-day ; 
which  strictly  forbids  the  "  reading  of  the  Common-Prayer, 
keeping  Christmas-day  or  saint's-day,  making  mince-pies, 
or  playing  on  any  instrument  of  music,  except  the  drum, 
the  trumpet,  and  the  Jews'-barp."  The  same  code  en- 
forced attendance  at  the  established  Puritan  Avorship,  under 

*  Enerqumens — persons  possessed  with  evil  s|pirits. 

\  Bancroft,  i.  463.  %  Blue  Code,  No.  13. 

§  Neale's  Puritans,  vol.  i.  p.  334. 

II  History  of  Connecticut,  1*781.  Captain  Marryat's  Diary,  Blue 
Code.  A  copy  of  which,  through  the  kindness  of  the  last-named 
gentleman,  lies  before  me. 


TREATMENT    OF    THE    IxVDIANS.  G7 

the  penalty  of  a  money-fine  for  every  time  of  absence.* 
Indeed,  bare  toleration  of  diflerent  forms  of  worship  Avas 
condenmed  amonsst  them  as  unquestionable  sin.  "  If," 
say.s  one  of  their  writers  hi  1647,  "  after  men  continue  in 
obstinate  rebellion  against  the  light,  the  civil  magistrate 
shall  still  walk  towards  them  in  soft  and  gentle  commise- 
ration, his  softness  and  gentleness  is  excessive  large  to  foxes 
and  v.'olves,  but  his  bowels  are  miserably  straitened  and 
hardened  against  the  poor  sheep  and  lambs  of  Christ.  Nor 
is  it  Irustrating  the  end  of  Christ's  coming,  but  a  direct 
advancing  it,  to  de&troy  tlie  bodies  of  those  wolves  Avho 
seek  to  destroy  the  souls  of  those  for  whom  Christ  died."! 
Tlie  same  spirit  runs  through  all  the  dealings  of  the 
"  pilgrim  fathers"  with  the  xmhappy  Indians  whom  they 
dispossessed.  It  seems  scarcely  to  have  crossed  their  minds, 
that  these  devoted  tribes  were  part  of  the  great  human 
family.  "  By  this  prodigious  pestilence,"  says  their  histor- 
ian, himself  evidently  a  man  of  a  gentle  temper,  "  the  woods 
were  cleared  of  those  pernicious  creatures,  to  make  room 
for  a  better  growth. "$  These,  again,  are  his  speculations 
on  the  mode  by  which  the  American  continent  was  first 
peopled  :  "  We  may  gLiess  that  probably  the  devil  decoyed 
those  miserable  salvages  hither  in  hopes  that  the  Gospel  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  would  never  come  here  to  destroy  or 
disturb  his  absolute  empire  over  them."§  "  Tawny  pagans," 
"  rabid  wolves,"  "grim  salvages,"  "  bloody  salvages,"  arc 
the  usual  terms  he  gives  them,  unless,  when  rising  into 
fervor,  he  boldly  declares  them  to  be  "so  many  devils." 
As  such  they  were  treated.  These  "  pilgrims,"  who  left 
their  fathers'  land,  believing  that  the  "  God  of  heaven  had 
served  a  summons  upon  the  spirits  of  His  people,  stirring 
them  up  to  go  over  a  terrible  ocean  into  a  more  terrible 
desert,  for  the  pure  enjojnnent  of  all  His  ordinances  ...  to 
carry  the  Gospel  into  those  parts,  and  raise  a  bulwark 
against  antichrist," — they  thought  notliing,  on  a  mere 
rumor  of  intended  mischief,  of  "  pretending  to  trade  viith 
the  Indians,"  that  they  might  more  safely,  "  with  prodigi- 

*  Cotton's   Bloody   Tenet  -naslied  White.     Sec   also   Belknap's 
History  of  New-Hampshire,  c.  iii.  p.  44. 

\  C.  Mather,  Magnalia,  i.  7.        :j:  lb.        §  Magn.  b.  iii.  p.  190. 


68  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

ous  resolution,  kill  divers  of  their  chiefs  ;"  or  of  "  vigorously 
discharging  their  muskets  upon  the  salvages,"  and  so  "  as- 
tonishing them  M'ith  the  strange  effects  of  such  dead  doing 
things  as  powder  and  shot."  Nor  was  this  unconnected 
with  the  character  of  their  religion.  The  Churchmen  of 
Virginia,  until  they  were  provoked  to  retaliate  by  the  at- 
tempted massacre  of  their  whole  colony,  had  treated  all  the 
Indian  tribes  with  kindness.  There  were  amongst  them, 
from  the  first,  men  who  devoted  all  their  energies  to  spread 
the  faith  of  Christ  amongst  their  heathen  neighbors.  But 
the  stern  and  exclusive  creed  of  the  New-England  Puritans 
did  not  favor  such  attempts.  Many  of  the  Puritans,  ac- 
customed to  regard  themselves  exclusively  as  the  chosen 
of  God,  habitually  applied  to  these  poor  heathens  the  de- 
nunciations of  the  Pentateuch  against  the  old  inhabitants 
of  Canaan.  Not  perceiving  that  they  had  no  direct  charge, 
like  the  famine  or  the  pestilence,  to  execute  the  long-de- 
layed vengeance  of  the  Almighty  against  a  people  "  whose 
iniquity  was  full,"  they  deemed  themselves  commissioned, 
hke  Joshua  of  old,  to  a  work  of  blood  ;  and  thinking  that 
the  sword  of  God's  vengeance  was  committed  to  their 
hands,  they  rejoiced  with  enthusiastic  triumph  at  the  ap- 
proaching extermination  of  these  tribes  of  idol- worshippers. 
The  same  fanatical  delusions  troubled  even  the  more  gentle 
spirits  of  their  band,  and  kept  them  from  exertion  for  their 
Indian  brethren.*  Even  amongst  their  own  conntrymen, 
we  are  assured  by  a  contemporary  Presbyterian  writer,  who 
quotes  authorities  for  all  his  assertions,  that  three  out  of 
four  were  driven  by  the  rigors  of  their  system  from  com- 
munity with  any  church  ;  and  as  a  necessary  consequence, 
their  peculiar  views, f  he  continues,  "  exceedingly  hindered 
the  conversion  of  the  poor  pagans.  God,  in  great  mercy, 
having  opened  a  door  in  these  last  times  to  a  new  world  of 
reasonable  creatures,  for  this  end  above  all,  that  the  Gospel 
might  be  preached  to  them,  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ, — the  principles  and  practice  of  the  In- 
dependents doth  cross  this  blessed  hope.     What  have  they 

*  Bishop  Berkeley's  Sermon  before  the  Society  for  tlie  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  17-31,  pp.  246.  247. 

t  R.  Baylie's  Errours  of  the  Time,  p.  60.     1646. 


JOHN    ELIOT.  G9 

to  do  M'ilh  those  that  arc  without  ?  Their  pastors  preach 
not  tor  conversion  ....  Of  ail  that  ever  crossed  the  Ame- 
rican seas,  they  are  noted  as  most  neglectful  of  this  work 
.  .  .  I  have  read  of  none  of  them  that  seem  to  have  minded 
this  matter."* 

It  Avas  not  till  the  very  year  in  which  this  reproach 
was  penned  that  any  ellbrts  were  made  to  remove  it  from 
the  Christians  of  New  England.  In  that  year,  John  Eliot, 
a  man  of  pi'imitive  piety,  zeal,  and  mortification,  broke 
through  the  bondage  of  the  system  round  him,  and  treated 
the  red  men,  whose  lands  "the  pilgrims"  now  so  largely 
occupied,  as  having,  like  themselves,  souls  for  which  Christ 
died.  He  was  one  of  those  whom  the  unhappy  humors  of 
the  time  drove  out  of  that  Church  at  home,  of  which  he 
shoidd  have  been  a  stay  and  ornament.  But  God  over- 
ruled his  loss  to  the  blessing  of  these  heathen.  From  a 
complete  education  at  the  English  University  of  Cambridge, 
he  was  lured  over  the  Atlantic  to  become  the  apostle  of 
the  Indians.  He  stood  at  first  alone.  "I  cannot  find," 
says  his  Puritan  chronicler,!  "  that  any  besides  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  first  moved  him  to  the  blessed  work  of  evan- 
gelising these  perishing  Indians."  "  The  thought,"  how- 
ever, he  continues,  "  may  have  been  suggested  to  him  by 
the  declaration  of  the  royal  charter,  that  to  win  and  incite 
the  natives  of  that  country  to  the  knowledge  and  obedience 
of  the  only  true  God  and  Saviour  of  mankind,  and  the 
Christian  faith,  in  our  royal  intention  and  the  adventurers' 
free  pi-olession,  is  the  principal  end  of  the  plantation." 

In  this  spirit  Eliot  entered  on  his  work,  and  thenceforth 
his  name  has  been  identified  with  self-denying  and  success- 
I'ul  efforts  to  spread  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  amongst  the 
heathen  of  North  America.  He  prepared  himself  for  his 
task  with  unexampled  diligence.  One  great  obstacle  to  be 
sunnounted  was  the  difiiculty  of  mastering  the  Indian 
language.  The  peculiar  feature  which  pervades  its  dia- 
lects is,  the  habit  of  clustering  together,  into  one  prolonged 
word,  the  separate  ideas  which,  in  our  language,  occupy 


*  II.  Baylie's  Errours  of  the  Time,  p.  60. 
f  C.  Mather,  book  iii.  p.  190. 


70  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

many  distinct  words.  This  made  its  acquisition  seem  al- 
most impossible  to  the  contemporaries  and  even  the  suc- 
cessors of  Eliot.  "  Its  words,"  says  Cotton  Mather,*  "  are 
long  enough  to  tire  the  patience  of  any  scholar  in  the  world  ; 
one  would  think  they  had  been  growing  ever  since  Babel 
unto  the  dimensions  to  which  they  are  now  extended." 
Further  on,  he  gravely  tells  us  that,  "  once  finding  the 
daemons  in  a  possessed  young  woman  understood  the  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew  languages,  curiosity  led  me  to  make 
trial  of  this  Indian  language,  and  the  daemons  did  seem  as 
if  they  did  not  understand  it."  These  difficulties  Eliot's 
patience  overcame ;  and  he  was  hereby  able  to  render  the 
most  effective  service  to  the  cause  to  which  his  life  was 
given.  For  the  support  of  these  missions,  parochial  collec- 
tions to  a  large  amount  had  been  made  in  Cromwell's  time. 
These  had  been  invested  in  the  purchase  of  land  ;  and,  after 
the  Restoration,  Clarendon's  influence  maintained  the  proper 
application  of  the  fund  so  created.  The  honorable  Robert 
Boyle,  a  name  never  to  be  mentioned  without  honor,  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  trust ;  the  funds  of  which,  at  this 
time,  were  mainly  expended  in  printing  the  Bible  and  othor 
religious  works,  of  Eliot's  translating,  in  the  Indian  tongue. f 
So  much  had  his  resolute  perseverance  effected  in  this 
laborious  work.  Mightier  difficulties  than  these  were 
levelled  before  him.  The  fast-closed  darkened  hearts  of 
these  Indians  opened  before  his  words,  and  many  converts 
were  gathered  by  him  into  the  Christian  fold.  Nobly  did 
he  spend  himself  in  these  blessed  labors.  Nor  was  his  ex- 
ample without  fruit.  At  his  first  engaging  in  the  work, 
"  all  the  good  men  in  the  country  were  glad  of  his  under- 
taking :  the  ministers  especially  encouraged  him."  Others 
soon  trod  in  his  footsteps  ;  and,  forty-one  years  after  his 
going  forth  to  these  Gentiles,  there  were  reckoned  "  six 
churches  of  baptised  Indians  in  New-England,  and  eighteen 
assemblies  of  catechumens  profes.sing  the  name  of  Christ  ; 
of  the  Indians,  there  are  twenty-four  who  are  preachers  of 
the  word  of  God,  and,  besides  these,  there  are  four  English 


*  Magnalia,  book  iii.  part  iii. 

t  Life  of  Richard  Baxter,  book  i.  part  ii.  p.  290. 


PURITAN    TREATMENT    OF    THE    INDIANS.  71 

ministers  who  preach  the  Gospel  hi  the  Indian  tongue."* 
This  flourishing  report  is  not  unquestioned  by  contemporary 
writers ;  but  whether  it  be  exaggerated  or  not,  there  is  no 
doubt  as  to  the  early  indifference  of  all  the  Puritans  to  such 
exertions  ;  and  it  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  fierce  and  ex- 
clusive temper  which  their  peculiarities  had  nurtured,  that, 
jn  a  settlement  which  owed  its  origin  to  zeal  about  reli- 
gion, for  six-and-twenty  years  of  constant  intercourse,  in 
peace  and  war,  with  their  Pagan  brethren,  the  desire  of 
their  conversion  to  the  faith  seems  never  to  have  visited  a 
single  breast ;  no  one  had  so  much  as  thought  of  attempt- 
ing to  convey  to  these  unhappy  tribes  around  them  the 
blessed  message  of  salvation.  With  an  apathy  made  more 
portentous  by  the  very  language  of"  their  charter,  they  never 
thought  of  them  as  men  partaking  of  redemption.  They 
seized  without  scruple  on  the  lands  possessed  of  old  times 
by  the  Indians,  "voting  themselves  to  be  the  children  of 
God,  and  that  the  wilderness  in  the  utmost  parts  of  the 
earth  was  given  to  them  :"t  and  it  is  calculated^  that  up- 
wards of  180,000  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  were  slaugh- 
tered by  them  in  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Connecticut  alone. 
With  this  indifference  towards  the  heathen  was  com- 
bined a  restless  proselyting  spirit  towards  their  brethren. 
Early  in  their  history,  they  attempted  to  plant  the  standard 
of  division  amongst  the  Churchmen  of  Virginia ;  and  when 
once  their  sect  had  been  established  there,  New-England 
was  ever  ready  to  send  forth  her  succors  to  the  founders  or 
fomenters  of  religious  difference. 

*  Letter  of  Increase — Mather's,  July  12,  IGSY.    Magnalia,  book 
iii.  p.  111. 

t  History  of  Connecticut,  1181.  X  Ibid.  p.  112. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FROM     1688    TO    1175. 

Spiritual  destitution  of  the  colonies — Exei'tions  of  the  Bishop  of 
London,  Hon.  Robert  Boyle,  and  others — Drs.  Blair  and  Bray  sent 
as  commissaries  to  Virginia  and  Maryland — New-York  conquered 
by  English — Trinity  Church  endowed — Progress  of  the  Church  in 
New-England — Boston  petition  for  episcopal  worship — Founda- 
tion of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel — Religii)U3 
state  of  the  colonies — Labors  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Venerable 
Society — Rev.  George  Keith — Violence  of  Quakers — Opposition 
from  New-England  magistrates — Yale  College — Leading  Congre- 
gationalists  join  the  Church — Progress  of  the  Church  at  Newtown 
under  Mr.  Beach — Violence  of  Congregational ists — General  state 
of  the  Church  in  Virginia — Mr.  Whitetield — Spreading  dissent — 
Rise  of  Anabaptists  in  Virginia — Resistance  to  the  clergy — Low 
state  of  the  Church — Its  causes — Clergy  dependent  on  their  flocks 
— Want  of  Bishops — Attempts  to  obtain  an  American  episcopate, 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  of  Queen  Anne — Bishop  Berkeley  op- 
posed by  Walpole — Supported  by  ArcIibi.shop  Seeker — Efforts  in 
the  colonies — Zeal  of  northern  colonies — Virginia  refuses  to  join  in 
the  attempt — Causes  of  tliis  refusal. 

To  those  who  have  learned  to  vahxe  rightly  the  importance 
of  Christian  unity,  it  will  be  no  matter  of  surprise  to  hear, 
that  in  this  divided  land  the  Church  of  Christ  could  not 
flourish.  So  plain,  in  truth,  had  become  the  features  of 
mora]  and  religious  evil  in  our  Transatlantic  colonies  at  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  that  the  slightest  observa- 
tion of  them  at  once  startled  good  men  at  home,  and  led 
them  to  immediate  action.  Amongst  the  first  of  these  were 
Sir  Leoline  Jenkins  and  the  Hon.  Robert  Boyle  ;  the  first 
of  whom  left  by  Avill  a  foundation  for  two  fellowships  at 
Jesus  College,  Oxford,  to  be  held  by  persons  in  holy  orders 
who  should  be  willing  to  take  upon  them  the  cure  of  souls 
in  our  foreign  plantations  ;  and  the  other,  after  undertaking 
to  conduct  a  company  in  1661,  for  the  propagation  of  the 


MARYLAND.  73 

Gospel  amongst  the  heathen  natives  of  New  England,  left 
an  annual  sum  to  support  the  lectures  which  to  this  day 
Lear  his  name,  that,  "being  dead,"  he  might  "still  speak" 
to  all  succeeding  generations  of  this  great  duty  of  convert- 
ing infidels  to  the  ti'ue  faith  of  Christ. 

From  these  beginnings  other  efforts  followed.  In  the 
year  1685,  the  Bishop  of  London  persuaded  Dr.  Blair  to  go 
as  his  commissary  to  Virginia.  For  fifty-three  years  he 
held  this  office,  and  zealously  discharged  its  duties.  By 
him  the  long-neglected  project  of  training  for  the  ministry 
the  English  and  Indian  youth  Avas  happily  revived,  and 
through  his  unwearied  labors  brought  at  last  to  a  success- 
ful close  in  the  establishment  of  the  college  of  "  William 
and  Mary." 

The  appointment  of  Dr.  Blair  was  shortly  followed  by 
the  nomination  of  Dr.  Bray  as  commissary  in  Maryland. 

This  colony,  as  has  been  said,  was  originally  founded 
by  settlers  of  the  Roman  Catholic  persuasion,  but  with  the 
free  allowance  of  all  other  forms  of  worslup  ;  and  it  is  well 
worthy  of  remark,  that  at  the  very  time  when  Puritan 
Massachusetts  was  jjersecuting  to  the  death  all  who  disagreed 
with  the  dominant  sect,  the  governors  of  Maryland  were 
bound  by  an  annual  oath,  not  "  by  themselves,  or  indi- 
rectly, to  trouble,  molest,  or  discountenance  any  person 
professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  for  or  in  respect  of 
religion  ;  and  if  any  such  were  so  molested,  to  protect  the 
person  molested,  and  punish  the  offender."*  On  this  basis 
things  continued  until  the  time  of  the  Great  Rebellion. 
Settlers  of  various  views  in  matters  of  religion  had  been 
received  and  protected  in  the  colony.  But  as  soon  as  the  gov- 
ernment was  wrested  from  the  handsof  the  Lord  Baltimore 
by  the  adherents  of  the  parliament,  and  the  Independents 
thereby  made  its  masters,  they  repealed  these  laws  of  uni- 
versal toleration,  and  proscribed  entirely  "  popery  and  pre- 
lacy." It  is  not  a  little  striking,  that  the  first  enactment 
in  the  statute-book  of  Maryland,  which  ibrbade  to  any  one 
the  free  exercise  of  that  which  he  believed  to  be  the  true 
form  of  Christian  worship,  should  have  been  introduced  by 

*  Chalmer.s,  2S3 ;  quoted  by  Dr.  Hawks. 

4 


74  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

sucli  fierce  pretenders  to  religious  liberty  as  the  Indepen- 
dents. 

So,  however,  it  was ;  and  such  the  law  continued  until 
the  fall  of  Cromwell's  party.  With  the  Restoration,  Lord 
Baltimore  regained  his  rights  as  owner  of  the  colony,  and 
for  a  season  all  proceeded  on  its  foi'mer  plan.  But  a  shock 
had  been  given  to  the  old  constitution  ;  and  the  troubles 
which  from  time  to  time  disturbed  society  at  home,  soon 
extended  to  the  colony,  and  took  there  the  same  direction. 
The  mass  of  the  population  were  by  this  time  Protestant ; 
and  as  during  the  reigns  of  Charles  and  James  II.,  fears  of 
popery  were  the  mainsprings  of  disturbances  in  England, 
Maryland,  now  brought  anew  under  the  rule  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  proprietor,  was  a  favorable  theatre  for  such  com- 
motions. Accordingly,  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary 
to  the  English  throne  was,  after  some  preparatory  troubles, 
followed  by  the  overthrow  of  Lord  Baltimore's  authority, 
and  the  substitution  in  his  stead  of  a  royal  governor.  This 
change  was  succeeded  by  an  act  of  assembly,  which,  in 
1692,  established  the  Church  of  Eufjland  as  the  relijrion  of 
the  colony  ;  divided  its  territory  into  parishes  ;  and  endowed 
its  clergy  with  an  income  to  be  derived  from  the  payment 
of  forty  pounds  of  tobacco  by  every  taxable  person  in  the 
province.  To  the  operation  of  this  law,  the  opponents  of 
the  Church  created  various  hindrances.  The  Romanists 
and  (Quakers, — who  abounded  in  the  colony,  and  both 
looked  on  such  a  law  as  most  injurious  to  themselves, — 
united  in  their  opposition  to  it ;  and  sometimes  by  colonial 
resistance,  sometimes  by  misrepresentation  to  the  govern- 
ment at  home,  they  long  delayed  its  execution. 

At  this  critical  period,  the  clergy,  feelmg  their  weak- 
ness, and  seeing  that  it  wsls  in  great  part  owing  to  that 
want  of  union,  of  which  the  presence  of  their  proper  head 
is  so  great  a  spring  and  safeguard,  besought  the  Bishop  of 
London  to  send  them  at  least  a  commissary,  clotlied  with 
such  poM'er  as  should  "capacitate  him  to  redress  what  is 
amiss,  and  supply  what  is  wanting,  in  the  Church."  The 
bishop  assented  to  their  wishes  ;  and  most  happy  was  his 
choice.  Dr.  Thomas  Bray,  his  first  commissary  in  Mary- 
land, was  a  man  of  rare  devotion,  joined  to  an  invincible 


Dn.    BRAY.  75 

energ)'^  in  action.  He  abandoned  willingly  the  prospect  of 
large  English  preferment,  to  nourish  the  infant  Church  in 
the  spiritual  wastes  of  Maryland.  No  sooner  had  he  ac- 
cepted the  appointment  than  he  set  himself  to  contrive 
means  for  fulfilling  all  its  duties.  His  first  care  was  to  find 
pious  and  useful  ministers,  whom  he  could  persuade  to  set- 
tle with  him  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic ;  and  in  this 
he  so  far  prospered  as  to  increase  the  number  laboring  there 
from  three  to  sixteen  clergymen.  He  began  also  the  forma- 
tion of  colonial  libraries  ;  and  in  the  course  of  his  exertion 
in  this  work,  was  led  on  to  still  greater  efibrts.  He  per- 
ceived the  need  and  the  fitness  of  the  co-operation  of  all 
ranks  of  Churchmen  in  such  attempts  ;  and  havmg  once 
conceived  this  idea,  he  rested  not  until  he  had  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Know- 
ledge, and  that  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts. 

In  all  these  labors  he  was  indefatigable.  No  difficulties 
daunted  him.  Finding,  in  the  course  of  his  preparations, 
that  he  required  the  personal  consent  of  the  king  to  some 
proposed  arrangements,  he  undertook  at  once,  and  at  his 
own  expense,  a  voyage  to  Holland,  where  the  monarch 
then  M-as.  In  a  like  spirit  he  acted  throughout ;  for  some 
years  he  continued  patiently  completing  his  preparations  in 
England,  though  his  salary  as  commissary  did  not  begin 
until  he  sailed  for  Maryland.  At  length,  on  the  12th  of 
March,  1700,  after  a  tedious  voyage,  he  reached  the  land 
of  his  adoption.  Here  he  soon  displayed  the  like  activity. 
He  assembled  the  clergy  at  visitations — instructed  them  by 
charges — and  enforced  discipline,  to  the  utmost  of  his  means, 
against  any  of  bad  Uves. 

On  one  notoriously  corrupt  he  enforced,  before  the  other 
clergy,  the  aggravations  of  his  crime.  First,  "  that  it  is 
done  by  a  person  in  holy  orders.  Secondly,  by  a  mission- 
ary  (which,  by  the  way,  my  brethren,  should  be  a  conside- 
ration of  no  small  weight  with  all  of  us.)  Thirdly,  as  to 
time,  that  this  scandal  is  given  at  a  juncture  when  our 
Church  here  is  weakest,  and  our  friends  seem  to  be  fewest, 
and  our  enemies  strongest.  And,  lastly,  as  to  place,  it  so 
happens  that  you  are  seated  m  the  midst  of  papists ;  and, 


7G  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

I  am  credibly  informed,  there  have  been  more  perversions 
made  to  popery  since  your  crime  has  been  the  talk  of  the 
country,  than  in  all  the  time  it  has  been  an  English  colony. 
These  considerations,  sir,  do  make  it  necessary  that  all  pos- 
sible expedition,  which  is  consistent  with  common  justice, 
should  be  made  in  this  aflair,  so  as  to  acquit  you  or  condemn 
you.   * 

What  the  results  of  such  zeal  might  have  been,  if,  in- 
stead of  beuig  a  delegated  representative  of  a  distant  prelate, 
Dr.  Bray  had  himself,  been  appointed  bishop  in  Maryland, 
it  is  impossible  to  calculate.  As  it  was,  the  efibrts,  which 
depended  wholly  on  his  individual  zeal,  instead  of  springing 
ever  fresh  out  of  the  system  of  the  Church,  scarcely  outlived 
his  own  stay  in  Maryland.  This  was  necessarily  short. 
The  opposition  made  to  the  established  rights  of  the  colo- 
nial clergy  called  for  his  presence  at  head-quarters,  where 
the  Gluakers  and  KoiTianists  were  active  and  united  ;  and 
lie  returned  to  England  to  maintain  the  cause  of  liis  afflicted 
community.  Upon  his  departure  religion  comparatively 
languished,  from  the  weakness  of  its  imperfect  planting, 
and  the  uncorrected  evil  lives  of  some  among  the  clergy. 
Still,  in  spite  of  all  hindrances,  the  Church  gained  some 
ground  ;  and  a  majority  of  the  colony,  now  increased  to 
30,000,  were  accounted  of  her  communion. 

Nor  was  this  rising  energy  confined  to  Maryland.  There 
was  a  stir  also  in  the  other  provinces.  New  Amsterdam, 
or  New-York,  as  it  was  termed  after  its  conquest  by  the 
English,  was  finally  ceded  by  the  Dutch,  at  the  treaty  oi 
Breda,  in  1667.  This  change  of  masters  transferred  at 
once  the  garrison-chapel  to  the  use  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. Within  these  narrow  walls  it  was  limited  for  many 
years,  until,  in  1696,  another  church  M-as  built  under  the 
name  of  "  Trinity,"  and  endowed  temporarily  by  Governor 
Fletcher,  and  in  perpetuity  by  his  successor  the  Lord  Corn- 
bury,  with  tlie  freehold  of  a  neighboring  properly,  kiLown 
hitherto  as  the  "  King's  Farm."  Even  in  New-England, 
in  spite  of  penal  laws,  which  rigidly  prohibited  any  "  min- 
istry or  Church  administration,  in  any  town  or  plantation 

*  liawks's  Eccles  Con.  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 


SOCIETY    FOR    PROPAGATION    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  77 

of  the  colony,  separate  from  that  which  is  openly  observed 
and  dispensed  by  the  approved  minister  of  the  place,"  a 
movement  began  towards  the  long-despised  Church  of  Eng- 
land. 

In  1G79  a  petition,  from  a  large  body  of  persons  in  their 
chief  town  of  Boston,  was  presented  to  King  Charles  II., 
praying  "  that  a  church  might  be  allowed  in  that  city  for 
the  exercise  of  religion  according  to  the  Church  of  England." 
This  request  was  granted,  and  a  church  erected  for  the 
purpose,  bearing  the  name  of  "  the  King's  Chapel."      Far 
more  considerable  matters  Ibllowed  the  inquiry  which  this 
step  occasioned.     It  was  found,  that   throughout  all  that 
populous  district  there  were  but  four  who  called  themselves 
ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  and  but  two  of  these 
who  had  been  regularly  sent  ibrth  to  the  work.     This  was 
a  state  of  things   M'hich  coidd  not  be  endured  ;   and  by  a 
happy  movement,  of  which  Dr.  Bray  was  in  great  measure 
the  suggestor,  the  bishops  of  the  Church  set  themselves  to 
fmd  some  means  for  its  correction.     They  determined  to 
associate  themselves  into  a  body  for  this  purpose,  with  such 
devout  members  of  the  laity  and  clergy  as  God  should  in- 
cline to  join  them  in  their  Avork  of  mercy.      They  issued 
their  address  to  the  community,  and  were  joined  by  ready 
hearts  on  all  sides  ;  so  that,  having  applied  for  and  obtained 
a  charter  of  incorporation,  they  met  for  despatch  of  business, 
as  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Grospel,  in  June, 
1701,  under  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  as  their  presi- 
dent.    Many  great  names  in  the  English  Church  appear 
in  the  catalogue  of  their  first  and   warmest  supporters, 
amongst  the  chief  of  whom  Avere  Bishop  Beveridge,  Arch- 
bishops Wake  and  Sharp,  and  Bishops  Gibson  and  Berke- 
ley. 

Funds  soon  flowed  in  upon  them  from  every  quarter  ; 
but  the  want  to  be  reheved  was  greater  than  the  worst 
returns  had  stated.  England,  it  was  found,  had  been  in- 
deed peopling  the  new  world  with  colonies  of  heathens. 
"  There  is  at  tins  day,"  is  BLshop  Berkeley's  declaration 
somewhat  later,  "  but  little  sense  of  religion,  and  a  most 
notorious  corruption  of  manners,  in   the   English  colonies 


78  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

settled  on  the  continent  of  America."*  Nor  will  this  lan- 
guage appear  overstrained,  if  it  is  compared  with  the  nu- 
merical returns  which  the  inquiries  of  the  day  called  forth. 
For  from  these  it  appeared  that  in  "  South  Carolina  there 
were  7,000  souls,  besides  negroes  and  Indians,  living  with- 
out any  minister  of  the  Church  .  .  .  and  above  half  the 
people  living  regardless  of  any  religion.  In  North  Carolina 
above  5,000  souls  without  any  minister,  any  administra- 
tions used  ;  no  public  worship  celebrated  ;  neither  the  chil- 
dren baptised,  nor  the  dead  buried,  in  any  Christian  form. 
Virginia  contained  above  40,000  souls,  divided  into  40  pa- 
rishes, but  wanting  near  half  the  number  of  clergymen 
requisite.  Maryland  contained  above  25,000,  divided  into 
26  parishes,  but  wanting  near  half  the  number  of  ministers 
requisite.  In  Pennsylvania  (says  Col.  Heathcote)  there 
are  at  least  20,000  souls,  of  which  not  above  700  frequent 
the  church,  and  there  are  not  more  than  250  communicants. 
In  New  York  government  we  have  30,000  souls  at  least, 
of  which  about  1,200  frequent  the  church,  and  we  have 
about  450  communicants.  In  Connecticut  there  are  about 
30,800  souls  ;  of  which,  when  they  have  a  minister  among 
them,  about  150  frequent  the  church,  and  there  are  35 
communicants.  In  Rhode  Island  and  Narraganset  there 
are  about  10,000  souls,  of  which  about  150  frequent  the 
church,  and  there  are  30  communicants.  In  Boston  and 
Piscataway  there  are  about  80,000  souls,  of  which  about 
GOO  frequent  the  church,  and  120  the  sacrament.  This  is 
the  true,  though  melancholy  state  of  our  Church  in  North 
America."! 

Nor  are  these  merely  the  accounts  of  Episcopalian 
writers.  Cotton  Mather  describes  the  state  of  Rhode 
Island  colony  in  1695,  as  "a  colluvies  of  Antinomians, 
Familists,  Anabapists,  Antisabbatarians,  Arminians,  Soci- 
nians,    (Quakers,    Ranters,    and   everything    but    Roman 

*  A  "  Proposal  for  better  supplying  of  Churches  in  our  Foreigii 
Phintations,"  publi'^hed  in  172.5. 

f  Humphrey's  History  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel,  p.  41,  tfcc.  These  figures,  however,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind, 
give  the  numbers  of  tlie  Church  of  England;  not  of  the  whole  Chris- 
tiaa  population. 


RELIGIOUS    STATE    OF    RHODE    ISLAND.  79 

Catholics  and  true  Christians  ;  honna  terra  mala  gois."* 
Such  was,  within  httle  more  than  fifty  years,  the  fruit  of 
founding  a  people  on  the  specious  attempt  of  making  "  no 
man  a  delinquent  for  doctrine  :"  not  in  its  true  sense,  of 
ahandoniiig  all  hope  of  forcing  men  to  trust  m  Christ  by 
penalties  and  statutes,  but  in  its  most  false  sense,  of  treat- 
ing them  as  if  they  were  not  themselves  indeed  responsible 
for  their  belief;  of  niahitaing  no  external  system  of  faith, 
but  counting  that  as  true  to  every  man  which  he  was 
pleased  to  gather  for  himself  in  the  boundless  waste  of  un- 
authorized opmion  ;  of  resting  truth  upon  the  shifting  sand- 
bank of  opinion,  and  not  on  the  sure  rock  of  revelation. 

How  far  such  a  population  could  act  as  an  outpost  of 
the  faith  may  be  easily  conceived.  What  their  influence 
had  been  amongst  their  Indian  neighbors  we  are  told  by 
Bishop  Berkeley,  when  he  says  that  these,  who  "  formerly 
were  in  the  compass  of  one  colony  many  thousands,  do  not 
at  present  amount  to  one,  including  evexy  age  and  sex  ; 
and  these  are  all  servants  of  the  English,  who  have  con- 
tributed more  to  destroy  their  bodies  by  the  use  of  strong 
liquors,  than  by  any  means  to  improve  their  minds  or  save 
their  souls.  This  slow  poison,  jointly  operating  with  the 
small-pox  and  their  wars  (but  much  more  destructive  than 
both)  have  consumed  the  Indians  not  only  m  our  colonies, 
but  also  far  and  wide  upon  our  confines.  It  must  be 
owned,  our  reformed  planters,  with  respect  to  the  natives 
and  their  slaves,  might  learn  from  those  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  how  it  is  their  interest  and  duty  to  behave.  Both 
the  French  and  Spaniards  .  .  .  take  care  to  instruct  both 
the  natives  and  their  negroes  in  the  Popish  religion,  to  the 
reproach  of  those  who  profess  a  better. "t 

To  supply  the  spiritual  necessities  of  these  our  sons  and 
daughters,  the  society  addressed  itself  with  zeal.  And 
much,  uixder  God's  blessing,  they  accomplished  in  various 
quarters.  Their  choice  was  guided  to  many  fit  and  zeal- 
ous instruments  for  the  performance  of  tliis  holy  work. 
They  sent  out  clergy,  fixed  and  itinerating,  to  all  the  dis- 

»  Magnalia,  b.  vii.  c.  3,  p.  20. 

f  Bishop  Berkeley's  Sermon  before  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  1731. 


80  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

tricts  except  Virginia  and  Maryland,  which  were  in  some 
degree  supplied  already  through  the  influence  of  their  old 
endowments.  Many  a  soul  had  cause  to  bless  God  for  the 
labors  of  these  men ;  who, — whether  they  went  into  the 
total  darkness  which  had  settled  doAvn  on  many  districts, 
or  preached  to  the  "  Foxian  (Quakers,"  who  iu  their  zeal 
for  the  "  teaching  of  the  inward  light,"  Avere  fast  losing  all 
remains  of  Christianity;  or  amongst  the  New-Englanders, 
who  "  consisted  chiefly  of  sectaries  of  many  denominations 

too  many  of  whom  had  worn  ofi"  a  serious  sense  of 

all  religion,"*' — alike  gathered  in  some  converts  to  the  fold. 
They  were  indeed  in  labors  abundant.  Thus  amongst  the 
first  was  George  Keith,  Avho  had  been  himself  a  duaker, 
but  was  now  in  English  holy  orders,  and  travelled  for  two 
years,  between  1702  and  1705,  through  all  the  govern- 
ments of  England,  between  North  Carolina  and  Piscataway 
river  in  ^I^ew- England,  preaching  twice  on  Sundays  and 
week-days  ;  oflering  up  public  prayers  ;  disputing  with  the 
duakers  ;  and  estabhshing  the  Church.  "  He  has  done," 
says  a  letter  of  the  day,  "  great  service  to  the  Church 
wherever  he  has  been,  by  preaching  and  disputing  publicly 
and  from  house  to  house  ;  he  has  confuted  many,  especially 
the  Anabaptists,  by  labor  and  travail  night  and  day,  by 
writing  and  printing  of  books,  mostly  at  his  own  cost  and 
charge,  giving  them  out  freely,  which  has  been  very  expen- 
sive to  him.  By  these  means  people  are  much  awakened, 
and  their  eyes  opened  to  see  the  good  old  way  ;  and  they 
are  very  well  pleased  to  find  the  Church  at  last  take  such 
care  of  her  children."  Two  hundred  "  (Quakers  or  Q,uaker- 
ly-aflected"  converts  he  himself  baptised  with  his  own  hand, 
besides  "  divers  other  dissenters  also  in  Pennsylvania,  West 
and  East  Jersey,  and  New- York." 

These  successes  were  not  gained  without  a  sharp  con- 
flict. Bitter  and  grievous  are  the  charges  with  which  the 
Q^uakers  assailed  him.  He  who  sees  this  sect  only  in  the 
calm  into  which  it  has  long  since  subsided  can  scarcely 
conceive  the  storm  and  fury  with  which  its  early  enthusi- 

*  Bishop  Berkeley's  Sermon  before  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel. 


X 


MISSIONARIES.  81 

asm  raged.  Yet  these  their  old  writers  everjrwhere  exhibit. 
The  very  index  to  the  hfe  of  Fox  thus  disposes  of  the  Eng- 
hsh  Clergry  :  "  They  sell  the  Scriptures — pray  by  form — are 
hirelings,  tithe-takers,  robbers  of  the  people — not  ministers 
of  the  gospel — plead  for  sin — dread  the  man  in  leathern 
breeches — are  miserable  comforters — reproved  in  the  streets 
— one  pleads  ibr  adultery — beats  friends — are  oppressors — 
persecutors — the  devil's  counsellors  and  lawyers." 

Men  of  such  a  temper  as  these  extracts  indicate  would 
not  easily  yield  up  their  past  predominance,  and  there  was 
no  extremity  of  calumny  with  which  they  did  not  visit 
Keith.  They  would  not  hear  of  granting  to  Episcopalians 
the  most  ordinary  toleration.  Thus  when  Dr.  Bray  endea- 
vored to  stir  up  the  voluntary  zeal  of  Christians  at  home 
to  make  some  adequate  provision  for  religion  in  the  colo- 
nies, his  memorial  was  met  by  furious  invectives  from  the 
famous  Joseph  Wyeth,  who  declares  his  object  to  be  "  to 
prevent,  if  I  may,  the  setting  up  and  establishing  a  power 
of  persecuting  and  imposition  in  the  colonies,  which  would 
be  to  the  discouragement  of  the  industrious  planter,"  &c.* 
Yet,  in  spite  of  all  assaults,  the  truth  steadily  prevailed. 
"  In  Pemisylvania" — was  his  concluding  report — "  where 
there  was  but  one  Church-of-England  congregation,  to  wit, 
at  Pennsylvania,  of  few  years'  standing,  there  are  now  five. 
At  Burlington,  in  New  Jersey,  a  settled  congregation ;  at 
Frankfort,  in  Pennsylvania,  the  (Quakers'  meeting  is  turned 
into  a  church  ;  and  within  these  two  years  thirteen  minis- 
ters are  planted  in  the  nothern  parts  of  America."!  These, 
and  all  save  the  settled  clergy  of  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
were  the  missionaries  of  the  Society,  then  newly  formed, 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.  To 
the  labors  of  that  venerable  body,  throughout  a  long  season 
of  sluggish  inactivity  and  wintry  darkness,  the  colonies  of 
England  are  indebted  for  all  the  spiritual  care  bestowed 
upon  them  by  the  mother-country.  Well  did  its  ministers 
deserve  the  honored  name  of  Christian  Missionaries.  Theirs 
were  toils  too  often  unrequited,  carried  on  in  the  face  of 

*  Remarks  on  Bray's  Memorial  by  J.  "Wyetli,  1701. 
f  Narrative  of  the  Rev.  Georye  Keith,  <fec. 


82  AMERICAN    CHURCH, 

dangers,  loss,  and  extreme  hardships.  The  hardly  settled 
country  was  still  liable  to  Indian  incursion.  The  home- 
steads of  the  settlers  lay  far  apart  from  one  another,  severed 
by  woods,  wastes,  and  morasses,  across  which,  in  many 
places,  no  better  roads  were  yet  carried  than  an  Indian 
path,  with  all  its  uncertainty  and  danger.  Day  by  day 
these  must  be  passed  by  those  who  discharged  in  that  land 
the  office  of  the  ministry.  "In  many  places  also  there 
were  great  rivers,  from  one,  two,  to  six,  twelve,  and  fifteen 
miles  over,  with  no  ferry.  He  that  would  answer  the  end 
of  his  mission  must  not  only  have  a  good  horse,  but  a  good 
boat  and  a  couple  of  experienced  watermen."*  In  such  a 
country  he  often  had  to  minister  at  ' '  places  above  sixty 
and  seventy  miles  distant,  and  found  it  a  very  laborious 
mission."!  How  laborious  it  was,  may  be  learned  from 
the  following  sketch  of  his  mission,  sent  from  North  Caro- 
lina to  the  Society  of  1722.  "  The  first  Sunday  I  preach, 
going  by  land  and  water  some  few  miles,  at  Esquire  Duck- 
enfield's  house,  large  enough  to  hold  a  gi'eat  congregation, 
till  we  have  built  a  church,  which  is  hereafter  to  be  called 
Society  Church.  The  second  Sunday  I  take  a  journey  up 
to  a  place  called  Maheim,  about  forty  miles  off,  where 
there  are  abundance  of  inhabitants.  Third  Sunday,  as  the 
first.  Fourth,  I  go  up  to  a  place  called  Meaou,  about 
thirty  miles  journey.  Fifth,  I  cross  the  sound  to  Eden 
Town.  Sixth,  to  the  chapel  on  the  south  shore,  about 
twelve  miles  by  water;  and  so,  the  seventh,  begin  as 
above,  except  once  every  quarter  I  go  up  to  a  place  called 
Roanoke,  about  eighty  miles  journey  ;  and  the  five  last 
Sundays  of  the  year  the  vestries  do  give  me,  that  I  may 
go  my  rounds  and  visit  the  remote  parts  of  the  country, 
where  the  inhabitants  live  some  1 50  miles  ofi" ;  people  who 
will  scarce  ever  have  the  oppurtunity  of  hearing  me,  or 
having  their  children  baptised,  unless  I  goto  them  .  .  .  ."$ 
These  were  their  labors  ;  for  which  they  had  no  other  re- 
compense than  such  as  have  at  all  times  animated  martyrs 

*  MS.  letters  of  the  S.  P.  G.,  quoted  in  "  Early  Colonial  Churcli," 
No.  iv.,  by  Rev.  E.  Hawkins, 
t  IhJd.  xvi.  p.  92. 
X  MS.  Letters  ia  "  Early  Colonial  Church,"  xvi.  p.  92. 


MISSIONARIES.  83 

and  confessors ;  fifty  pounds  a  year  from  the  Society,  and, 
sometimes  at  least,  but  "  thirty  pounds  paid  duriiiij  live 
years  in  depreciated  paper,"  was  the  stipend  of  such  Labor- 
ers. Their  mode  of  living  embraced  no  luxuries.  "  The 
water,"  says  one,  dcscribin;:^  what  ho  saw  around  hhn, 
'■  M'as  brackisli  and  mudtly  ;  their  ordinary  food  was  salt 
pork,  but  sometimes  beef;  their  bread,  of  Indian  corn, 
which  they  are  forced,  for  want  of  mills,  to  beat."  "  My 
lodging,"  adds  another,  "  was  an  old  tobacco-house,  exposed 
even  inmybed  to  the  injuries  and  violencesof  bad  weather."* 
These  were  not  their  severest  trials  ;  long  neglect  had  hard- 
ened the  settlers'  hearts  against  the  truth  ;  the  dying  sparks 
of  religion  had  to  be  fanned  into  a  flame  amidst  abounding 
opposition;  the  people  were  "barbarous  and  disorderly," 
they  impiously  profaned  the  holiest  rites,  and  heaped  upon 
these  messengers  of  peace  "  abuses  and  contumely."  The 
sectarians,  who  had  been  suffered  to  forestall  them,  were 
"  very  numerous,  extremely  ignorant,  insufferably  proud, 
ambitious,  and  consequently  ungovernable."! 

It  can  cause  no  surprise  to  find  that  some  turned  back 
in  hopeless  despondency  from  such  a  task ;  and  that  others, 
whose  first  care  was  "so  to  acquit  themselves,  in  that 
troublesome  and  unsettled  country,  as  to  be  able  to  give  a 
comfortable  account  of  their  stewardship  at  that  dreadful 
tribunal  where  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  disclosed," 
soon  sunk  under  their  exhausting  labors. |  Some  good  no 
doubt  they  did  ;  some  wanderers  in  that  distant  wilderness 
shall  one  day  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed.  Their  record 
is  on  high.  Even  here  they  were  not  always  without  wit- 
ness. "  We  shall  ever  bless  Pro^^dence,"  says  the  vestry 
of  Carotuch  of  one  who  in  that  great  day  shall  rise  out  of 
his  distant  grave  in  Carolina,  "that  placed  him  amongst 
us,  and  should  be  very  unjust  to  his  character  if  we  did 
not  give  him  the  testimony  of  a  pious  and  painful  pastor, 
whose  sweetness  of  temper,  diligence  in  his  calling,  and 

*  MS.  Letters  in  "  Early  Colonial  Church,"  ix.  p.  273  ;  iv.  p.  105. 

•j-  Letters,  ut  supra. 

\  Of  one  (the  Rev.  Clement  Hal!)  we  read,  "  It  is  no  excessive 
computation,  that  this  good  and  most  laborious  missionary  baptised 
ten  thousand  persons."     S.  P.  G.  Report,  1760. 


84  AMEracAN  church. 

soundness  of  doctrine,  hath  so  much  conduced  to  promote 
the  great  end  of  his  mission,  that  M'e  hope  the  good  seed 
God  hath  enabled  him  to  sow  will  bear  fruit  upwards."* 
But  for  such  eflbrts  as  these,  the  very  name  of  Christ's 
Gospel  would  have  perished  out  of  that  laud,  and,  shame- 
ful as  it  is  to  England  that  she  made  no  better  provision 
for  her  colonies,  blessed  was  their  work,  and  great,  doubt- 
less, will  one  day  be  their  reward  who  devised  and  carried 
out  these  unrequited  labors. 

In  New-England  also  the  Church  was  rooted  amidst 
storms  and  opposition.  Wherever  the  missionaries  came, 
"  the  ministers  and  magistrates  of  the  Independents  were 
remarkably  industrious,  going  from  house  to  house  persuad- 
ing the  people  from  hearing  them,  and  threatening  those 
who  would  attend  with  imprisonment  and  punishment."! 
At  one  place  a  magistrate  with  officers  came  to  the  preach- 
er's lodgings,  and  in  the  hearing  of  the  people  read  a  paper, 
declaring  that  "  in  coming  among  them  to  establish  a  new 
way  of  worship,  he  had  done  an  illegal  thing,  and  was  now 
forewarned  against  preaching  any  more."  Yet  here  too 
the  good  seed  was  not  sown  in  vain ;  for  in  many  spots 
throughout  the  country  devout  and  abiding  congregations  of 
the  faithful  were  gathered  under  apostolic  order. 

The  movement  began,  in  spite  of  all  precautions,  within 
the  walls  of  Yale  College,:!:  the  stronghold  of  the  Indepen- 
dents. So  carefully  had  this  been  fenced  from  such  attempts, 
that  its  fundamental  law  prescribed  that  no  student  should 
be  allowed  instruction  in  any  other  system  of  divinity  than 
such  as  the  trustees  appointed  ;  and  every  one  was  forced 
to  learn  the  Assembly's  Catechism,  and  other  books  of  pu- 
ritanical authority. 

For  a  time  the  dry  metaphysics  of  this  school  excluded 
all  healthier  learning.  But  about  the  year  1711,  the  agent 
of  the  colony  in  England  sent  over  800  volumes,  amongst 
which  were  many  of  the  standard  works  of  the  divines  o( 
the  English  Church.     These  books  were  eagerly  devoured 

*  MS.  Letters,  7it  supra. 

f  Humphrey's  History  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  tho 
Gospel,  p.  339. 

i  Life  of  Dr.  Johnson,  by  Chandler,  p.  21,  &c. 


MISSION    IN    CONNECTICUT.       .  85 

by  the  hungry  stiulonts ;  and  amongst  tlie  first  whom  they 
airected  wore  the  rector  of  the  college,  Dr.  Cutler,  and  two 
of  its  leading  tutors,  Messrs.  Johnson  and  Brown.  They 
were  amongst  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Puritan  divines ; 
and  their  humble  adoption  of  the  Church's  teaching,  their 
abandonment  of  their  endowments  in  the  college,  laying 
down  the  ministry  which  without  due  warrant  they  had 
hitherto  discharged,  and  setting  out  for  England  to  receive 
ordination  at  the  bishop's  hands, — drew  general  attention 
to  the  subject.  BroAvn  fell  a  victim  to  the  small-pox  in 
England  ;  Cutler  suflered  severely  from  the  same  disease, 
but  recovering,  was,  Avith  Johnson,  ordained  to  the  priest- 
hood, and  with  him  returned,  in  1723,  to  the  colony,* 
where  their  influence  ere  long  was  widely  felt.  Cutler  was 
settled  at  Boston,  and,  amidst  unceasing  persecutions,  main- 
tained to  the  last  the  standard  of  the  faith.  For  fifty 
years  of  patient  toil  Johnson  labored  earnestly  at  Strat- 
ford. 

His  answers  to  the  queries  issued  by  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don will  follow  up  this  history  of  his  ministry,  amongst  "  a 
people"  whom  he  found  "  low  and  poor  in  fortune,  yet  very 
serious  and  well  minder],  and  ready  to  entertain  any  instruc- 
tions that  may  forward  them  in  the  paths  of  virtue  and 
truth  and  godliness." 

"  Q,.  How  long  is  it  since  you  went  over  to  the  planta- 
tions as  a  missionary  ? 

"A.  I  arrived  upon  my  charge  November  1st,  172.3. 

"  Q,.  Have  you  had  any  other  church  before  you  came  to 
that  which  you  now  possess  ;  and  if  you  had,  what  church 
was  it,  and  how  long  have  you  been  removed  ? 

"  A.  I  was  a  teacher  in  the  Presbyterian  method  at  West 
Haven,  about  ten  miles  ofl"  from  this  town  ;  but  never  was 
in  the  service  of  the  Established  Church  till  the  honorable 
society  admitted  me  into  their  service  as  missionary. 

"  Q,.  Have  you  been  duly  licensed  by  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don to  officiate  as  a  missionary  in  the  government  where 
you  now  are? 

"  A.  I  was  licensed  by  your  Lordship  to  officiate  as  a 
missionary  in  this  colony  of  Connecticut. 

*  Life  of  Dr.  Johnson,  p.  30. 


86  »  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

"  d.  How  long  have  you  been  inducted  into  your  liv- 
ing? 

"  A.  I  was  admitted  into  the  honorable  society's  service 
in  the  beginning  of  January,  1722-3. 

"  Q,.  Are  you  ordinarily  resident  in  the  parish  to  which 
you  have  been  inducted  ? 

"A.  I  am  constantly  resident  at  Stratford,  excepting  the 
time  that  I  am  riding  about  to  preach  m  the  neighboring 
towns  that  are  destitute  of  ministers. 

"  Q..  Of  what  extent  is  your  parish,  and  how  many  fam- 
ilies are  there  in  it  ? 

"  A.  The  town  is  nigh  ten  miles  square,  and  has  about 
250  or  300  families  in  it,  nigh  50  of  which  are  of  the  Es- 
tablished Church.  But  indeed  the  Episcopal  people  of  all 
the  towns  adjacent  esteem  themselves  my  parishioners  ;  as 
at  Fairfield  about  30  families,  the  like  number  at  New 
Town,  at  West  Haven  about  10,  and  sundry  in  other 
places. 

"  Q,.  Are  there  any  infidels,  bond  or  free,  within  your 
parish  ;  and  what  means  are  used  for  their  conversion  ? 

"  A.  There  are  nigh  200  Indians  in  the  bounds  of  the 
town,  for  whose  conversion  there  are  no  means  used,  and 
the  like  in  many  other  towns  ;  and  many  negroes  that  are 
slaves  in  particular  families,  some  of  which  go  to  church, 
but  most  of  them  to  meeting. 

"  Q,.  How  oft  is  divine  service  performed  in  your  church  ; 
and  what  proportion  of  the  parishioners  attend  it  ? 

"  A .  Service  is  performed  only  on  Sundays  and  holydays, 
and  many  times  100  or  150  people  attend  it,  but  sometimes 
not  half  so  many,  and  sometimes  twice  that  number,  espe- 
cially upon  the  three  great  festivals  ;  and  when  I  preach  at 
the  neighboring  towns,  especially  at  Fairfield  and  New 
Town,  I  have  a  very  numerous  audience  ;  which  places,  as 
they  very  much  want,  so  they  might  be  readily  supplied  with 
ministers  from  among  ourselves,  and  those  the  best  that  are 
educated  here,  if  there  was  but  a  bishop  to  ordain  them. 

"Q,.  How  oft  is  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper 
administered  ?  and  what  is  the  usual  number  of  communi- 
cants ? 

"  A.  I  administer  the  holy  eucharist  on  the  first  Sun- 


MISSION   IN   CONNECTICUT.  87 

day  of  every  month,  to  about  thirty  and  sometimes  forty 
communicants  ;  and  upon  the  three  great  festivals,  to  about 
sixty.  But  there  are  nigh  one  hundred  communicants  hero 
and  in  the  towns  adjacent,  to  whom  I  administer  as  often 
as  I  can  attend  them. 

"  Q,.  At  what  times  do  you  catechise  the  youth  of  your 
parish  ? 

"A.  I  catecliise  every  Lord's  day,  immediately  after 
evening  service,  and  explain  the  catechism  to  them. 

"  U..  Are  all  things  duly  disposed  and  provided  in  the 
church  for  the  decent  and  orderly  performance  of  divuie 
service  ? 

"A.  We  have  no  church ;  have  begun  to  build  one  ; 
but  such  is  the  poverty  of  the  people,  that  we  get  along 
but  very  slowiy.  Neither  have  we  any  furniture  for  the 
communion,  save  that  which  Narraganset  people  lay  claim 
to  ;  concerning  which  I  have  written  to  your  lordship  by 
my  churcliAvarden. 

"  d.  Of  what  value  is  your  living  in  sterling  money  ? 
and  how  does  it  arise  ? 

"  A.  I  have  60^.  sterling  settled  on  me  by  the  honor- 
able society,  and  receive  but  very  little  from  my  poor  peo- 
ple, save  now  and  then  a  few  small  presents. 

"  Q,.  Have  you  a  house  and  glebe  ?     Is  your  glebe  in 
lease,  or  let  by  the  year,  or  is  it  occupied  by  yourself? 
"  A.  I  have  neither  house  nor  glebe. 
"  d.  Have  you  more  cures  than  one  ?     If  you  have, 
what  are  they  ?  and  in  what  manner  served  ? 

"  A.  There  are  Fairfield,  eight  miles  off;  New  Town, 
twenty  ;  Repton,  eight ;  West  Haven,  ten  ;  and  New  Lon- 
don, seventy  miles  off;  to  all  which  places  I  ride,  and 
proacli,  and  administer  the  sacrament,  as  often  as  I  can  ; 
bat  have  no  assistance,  save  that  one  Dr.  Laborie,  an  inge- 
nious gentleman,  does  gratis  explain  the  catechism  at  Fair- 
field ;  but  aU  these  places  want  ministers  extremely. 

"  Q,.  Have  you  in  your  pari.sh  any  public  school  for  the 
instruction  of  youth  ?  If  you  have,  is  it  endowed  ?  and  who 
is  the  master  ? 

"  A.  The  Independents  have  one  or  two  poor  schools 
among  them,  but  there   are  no  schools  of  the  Church  of 


88  AMERICAN    C11UK.CII. 

England  in  the  to-vra  nor  colony  ;  for  which  reason  I  have 
recommended  my  churchwarden  to  your  lordship  and  the 
honorable  society. 

"  Q,.  Have  you  a  parochial  library  ?  If  you  have,  are 
the  books  preserved,  and  kept  in  good  condition?  Have 
you  any  particular  rules  and  orders  for  the  preserving  of 
them  ?     Are  those  rules  and  orders  duly  observed  ? 

"A.  We  have  no  library  save  the  10/.  worth  which 
the  honorable  society  gave,  which  I  keep  carefully  by 
themselves  in  my  study,  in  the  same  condition  as  I  keep 
my  own."* 

These  inroads  on  their  undisturbed  sway  were  ill  endured 
by  the  sturdy  Congregationalists.  They  claimed,  and  en- 
deavored to  exercise,  powers  rarely  wielded  by  any  estab- 
lished national  communion.  They  called  together  synods, 
in  which,  but  for  the  dii-ect  interposition  of  the  civil  arm, 
they  would  have  enacted  canons  wherewith  to  bind  men 
of  all  opinions  in  the  colonies.  They  assumed  the  right  of 
taxing  all  for  the  support  of  their  ministers  and  meeting- 
houses ;  and  wherever  they  could  gain  over  the  local  governor 
to  their  persuasion,  pi'oceeded  to  enforce  their  claim  with 
signal  violence.  "  With  melancholy  hearts,"  the  members  of 
a  "young  church"  at  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  wrote  home 
to  complain,  ".have  divers  of  us  been  imprisoned,  and  our 
goods  from  year  to  year  distrained,  for  taxes  levied  for  the 
building  and  supporting  meeting-houses ;  and  when  we 
have  petitioned  our  governor  for  redress,  notifying  to  him 
tlie  repugnance  of  such  actions  to  the  laws  of  England,  he 
hath  proved  a  strong  opponent  to  us  ;  but  when  the  otlier 
party  hath  applied  to  him  for  advice  how  to  proceed  against 
us,  he  hath  given  sentence  to  enlarge  the  gaol,  and  fill  it 
with  ilicm,  i.  e.  the  Church  "f  From  words  and  taunts 
they  often  passed  to  actual  violence.  As  late  as  1750,  an 
old  man,  who  had  been  long  a  member  of  the  Church,  was 
whipped  publiclj^  for  not  attending  meeting.  They  fined 
heavily,  in  the  same  year,  an  episcopal  clergyman  of  Eng- 
lish birth  and  ediication,  on  the  pretence  that  he  had  bro- 
ken the  Sabbath  by  walking  home  too  fast  from  church  ; 

*.  July  2,  1729  :    Fulham  mss.  f  Fulham  mss. 


PEKSECUTION    OF    CHURCHMEN.  89 

and  at  Hartford  one  of  the  judges  of  the  county  court, 
assisted  by  the  mob,  pulled  down  a  rising  church,  and 
with  the  stones  built  a  mansion  for  his  son.* 

This  spirit  was  continually  breaking  out.  "  We  are 
oppressed,"  writes  Mr.  Johnson,  "  and  despised  as  the  filth 
of  the  world,  and  the  ofi-scouring  of  all  things,  unto  this 
day.  The  Independents  boast  themselves  as  an  establish- 
ment, and  look  down  upon  the  poor  Church  of  England 
with  contempt,  as  a  despicable,  schismatical,  and  popish 
communion.     Their  charter  is  the  foundation  of  all  their 

insolence I  cannot  but  think   it   very  hard  that 

that  Church,  of  Avliich  our  most  gracious  king  is  the  nurs- 
ing father,  should  not,  in  any  part  of  his  dominions,  be  at 
least  upon  a  level  with  the  disseirters,  and  free  from  any 
oppressions  from   them.     Another  instance    is    this.     All 
persons  that  shall  come  to  inhabit  in  this  colony,  or  are 
born  here,  have,  by  the  charter,  all  the  liberties  and  immu- 
nities of  free  and  natural  subjects,  as  if  they  were  born  with- 
in the  realm  of  England.  Notwithstanding  which,  they  have 
made  laws  to  prevent  strangers  from  settling  among  them. 
As  soon  as  any  stranger,  though  an  Englishman,  comes 
into  town,   he  is,    according  to    their    laws,  immediately 
warned  to  go  out.t  which  they  always  do  if  he  is  a  Church- 
man.    And  it  is  in  the  breast  of  the  select  men  of  the 
toMnx  whether  they  will  accept  of  any  bondsmen  for  him  ; 
neither  can  he  purchase  any  lands  Avithout  their  leave  ;  and 
uidess  they  see  cause  to  allow  him  to  stay,  they  can  by 
their  laws  whip  him  out  of  town,  if  he  otherwise  refuses 
to  depart.     By  this  means  several  professors  of  our  Church, 
for  no  other  crime  but  their  profession,  have  been  prevented 
from  settling  here.     A  very  worthv  man,  who  had  not  be- 
fore  been  of  any  rehgion,  but  was,  by  God's  blessing  on  my 
endeavors,  induced  to  become  a  very  serious  conformist  to 
our  Church,  came  here  to  set  up  a  considerable  trade  ;  but 
for  want  of  men  to  carry  on  his  business,  (occasioned  by  the 
forementioned  practices,)  and  by  reason  of  the  discourage- 
ment he  every  way  meets  with  from  them,  he  is  forced  to 

*  History  of  Connecticut,  1781. 

f  This  was  done  under  the  general  provisions  of  the  poor-law,  to 
prevent  strangers  gaining  a  settlement  sub  silentio. 


90  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

break  up  and  depart,  to  his  unspeakable  damage  ;  and  the 
Church  has  lost  a  very  worthy  friend  and  benefactor."* 

Such  assumed  powers  they  continued  to  exert,  although 
it  was  shown  them  that  the  lords  justices  in   1725  had 
expressly  declared,  "  that  there  was  no  regular  establish- 
ment of  any  national  or  provincial  Church  in  these  plan- 
tations."    But  they  were  not  soon  daunted  ;  and  even  when 
these  continued  exactions  had  led  the  sufferers  to  obtain  a 
fresh  opinion  from  the  law-officers  of  the  crown,  which  dis- 
tinctly declared  that  no  such  colonial  rules  could  be  enforced 
on  Churchmen,  they  endeavored  to  evade  its  power,  by 
passing  an  act  which  exempted  members  of  the  Church 
from  future  payments,  but  at  the  same  time  declared,  that 
all  who  lived  at  more  than  a  mile  from  any  church  were 
not  to  be  esteemed  as  Churchmen.     "  It  were  too  long  and 
tragical,"!  writes  another  NcAV-England  clergyman  after 
the  passing  of  this  law,  "  to  repeat  the  several  difficulties, 
and  severities,  and  affronts,  which  our  hearers  are  harassed 
with  in  many  parts  of  this  colony,  by  rigorous  persecutions 
and  arbitrary  pecuniary  demands,  inflicted  on  the  consci- 
entious members  of  our  Church  by  domineering  Presby- 
terians, the  old  implacable  enemies  of  our  Sion's  prosperity. 
Here   your  sons  are  imprisoned,   arrested,  and  non-suited 
with  prodigious  cost,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and  man. 
All  professors  of  the  Church  of  England,  over  whom  there 
is  not  a  particular  missionary  appointed,  are  obliged  to 
support  Presbyterian  teachers  and  their  meeting-houses — a 
cruelty,  injustice,  and  usurpation,  imposed  on  no  other  so- 
ciety." 

In  the  midst  of  these  difficidties  from  without,  the  in- 
jury infficted  on  the  Church  by  its  imperfect  spiritual  or- 
ganization was  felt  with  the  greatest  bitterness.  "  The 
Independents,  or  Congregatioualists"!  they  complain,  "here 
in  New-England,  especially  in  Massachusetts  and  Connec- 
ticut, without  any  regard  to  the  king's  supremacy,  have 
established  themselves  by  law,  and  so  are  pleased  to  con- 

*  Fulhani  mss.  A  respectable  bookseller  at  Boston  was  convicted 
of  a  libel  for  publishing  Leslie's  "  Short  MeUioJ  with  the  Deists." — 
WaterlancVs  Letters  to  Jno.  Lovedaij,  Esq.  vol.  xi.  441. 

f  Fulham  mss.  %  Fulham  mss. 


CHURCHMEN  IN  NEW  ENGLAND.  91 

sider  and  treat  us  of  the  Church  as  dissenters.  .  .  .  The 
Presbyterians  chiefly  obtain  in  the  soutli-westcrn  colonies, 
especially  in  those  ot"  New- York,  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania, 
where  they  have  flourishing  Presbyteries  and  synods  in  lull 
vigor ;  while  the  poor  Church  of  England  in  all  these 
colonies  is  in  a  low,  depressed,  and  very  imperfect  state,  for 
want  of  her  pure  primitive  episcopal  form  of  Church  go- 
vernment. Vi'e  do  not  en\'y  our  neighbors,  nor  in  the  least 
desire  to  disquiet  them  in  their  several  ways  ;  we  only  de- 
sire to  be  at  least  upon  as  good  a  looting  as  they,  and  as 
perfect  in  our  kind  as  they  imagine  themselves  in  theirs. 
And  this  we  think  we  have  a  right  to,  both  as  the  Episco- 
pal government  was  the  only  form  at  first  universally 
established  by  the  apostles,  and  is,  moreover,  the  form 
established  by  law  in  our  mother  country.  We  therefore 
cannot  but  think  ourselves  extremely  injured,  and  in  a  state 
little  short  of  persecution,  while  our  candidates  are  forced, 
at  a  great  expense  both  of  hves  and  fortunes,  to  go  a  thou- 
sand leagues  for  every  ordination,  and  we  arc  destitute  of 
confirmation  and  a  regular  government.  So  that,  unless 
we  can  have  bishops,  especially  at  this  juncture,  the  Chvirch, 
and  with  it  the  interest  of  true  religion,  must  dwindle  and 
greatly  decay,  while  we  suffer  the  contempt  and  triumph 
of  our  neighbors,  who  even  plume  themselves  with  the 
hopes  (as  from  the  lukewarmness  and  indifference  of  this 
miserably  apostatising  age  I  doubt  they  have  too  much 
occasion  to  do)  that  the  Episcopate  is  more  likely  to  be 
abolished  at  home  than  established  abroad  ;  and,  indeed, 
they  are  vain  enough  to  think  that  the  civil  government  at 
home  is  itself  really  better  aflected  to  them  than  to  the 
Church,  and  even  disafiected  to  that ;  otherwise,  say  they, 
it  would  doubtless  establish  episcopacy." 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  hindrances,  the  persecuted  body  grew 
and  multiplied.  Sometimes  a  wealthy  resident  would 
build  a  church  upon  Iris  own  estate  ;  sometimes  the  move- 
ment rose  amongst  the  mass  of  poorer  persons.  '■  T  have 
lately,"*  says  one  of  these  reports,  been  preaching  at 
New-Haven,  where  the  college  is,  and  had  a  considerable 

• 

*  Fulham  mss. 


92  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

congregation,  anil  among  tliem  several  of  the  scholars,  who 
are  very  inquisitive  about  the  principle  of  our  Church ; 
and  alter  sermon  ten  of  the  members  of  the  Church  there 
subscribed  100/.  towards  the  building  a  church  in  that 
town,  and  are  zealously  engaged  about  undertaking  it ;  and 
I  hope  in  a  few  years  there  will  be  a  large  congregation 
there."  "It  is  with  great  pleasure,"  says  another,  "that 
we  see  the  success  of  our  labors  in  the  frequent  conversions 
of  dissenting  teachers  in  this  country,  and  the  good  dispo- 
sition towards  the  excellent  constitution  of  our  Church 
growing  amongst  the  people  wherever  the  honorable  society 
have  settled  their  missions.  Sundry  others  of  their  teachers 
are  likely  to  appear  for  the  Church  ;  and  two  very  honest 
and  ingenious  men  have  declared  themselves  this  winter. 
.  .  .  We  are  persuaded  that  it  is  from  a  serious  and  impar- 
tial examination  of  things,  and  the  sincere  love  of  truth 
and  sense  of  duty,  that  they  have  come  over  to  our  com- 
munion." 

What  was  the  character  of  the  ministry  which  some 
fliithful  men  were,  und^r  afl  discouragements,  enabled  to 
maintain,  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  letter  :* — 

"  Being  by  the  favorable  providence  of  God  arrived  in 
TTew-England,  in  obedience  to  your  lordship's  commands, 
I  make  bold  to  lay  before  you  the  state  of  this  colony  of 
Connecticut,  to  which  your  lordship  has  licensed  me.  The 
people  here  arc  generally  rigid  Independents,  and  have  an 
inveterate  enmity  against  the  established  Church;  but  of 
late  the  eyes  of  great  multitudes  are  opened  to  see  the  great 
error  of  such  an  uncharitable,  and  therefore  imchristian 
spirit.  This  is  come  to  pass  chiefly  in  six  or  seven  towns, 
whereof  this  of  Stratford,  where  I  reside,  is  the  principal  ; 
and  though  I  am  unworthy  and  unmeet  to  be  entrusted 
with  such  a  charge,  yet  there  is  not  one  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England  besides  myself  in  this  whole  colouy  ; 
and  I  am  obliged,  in  a  great  measure,  to  neglect  my  cure 
at  Stratfm-d  (where  yet  there  is  business  enough  ior  one 
minister)  to  ride  about  to  the  other  towns,  (some  ten,  some 
twenty  miles  off, )  where  in  each  of  them  there  is  as  much 

*  IMr.  Johnson  to  tlie  Bisliop  of  LonJon.     Fulliara  .mss. 


CONNECTICUT.  93 

need  of  a.  resident  minister  as  there  is  at  Stratford,  espe- 
cially at  Newtown  and  Fairfield.  iSo  that  the  case  of 
these  destitute  places,  as  well  as  of  myself,  who  have  this 
excess  of  business,  is  extremely  unhappy  and  compassiou- 
able. 

"  Now,  at  the  same  time,  there  are  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  very  promisinf^  young  gentlemen — five  or  six  I  am 
sure  of — ajid  those  the  best  that  are  educated  among  us, 
who  might  be  instrumental  to  do  a  great  deal  of  good  to 
the  souls  of  men,  were  they  ordained  ;  but  for  want  of  epis- 
copal ordination  decline  the  ministry,  and  go  into  secular 
business  ;  being  partly  from  themselves,  and  partly  through 
the  influence  of  their  friends,  unwilling  to  expose  them- 
selves to  the  danger  of  the  seas  and  distempers, — so  terri- 
fying has  been  the  luihappy  fate  of  Mr.  Brown.*  So  that 
the  fountain  of  all  our  misery  is  the  want  of  a  bishop,  for 
whom  there  are  many  thousands  of  souls  in  this  country 
who  do  impatiently  long  and  pray,  and  for  want  do  ex- 
tremely sufler. 

"  Permit  me  to  remember  the  concern  you  were  pleased 
to  express  for  sending  a  suffragan  into  this  country  when 
we  were  before  you,  which  gave  me  the  greater  pleasure, 
because  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  know  that,  so  great  is 
your  deserved  interest  with  his  most  sacred  majesty  King 
George  (Whom  God  long  preserve),  that  you  might  very 
probably  be  the  first,  under  God  and  the  king,  in  elFecting 
for  us  so  great  a  blessing, 

"And  suffer  me  farther  to  say,  that  there  is  not 
one  Jacobite  or  disafiected  person  in  this  colony,  nor 
above  two  or  three,  that  I  know  of,  in  America.  But, 
for  want  of  a  loyal  and-  oi-thodox  bishop  to  inspect  us,  we 
lie  open  to  be  misled  uito  the  wretched  maxuiis  of  that 
abandoned  set  of  men,  as  well  as  a  great  many  other  per- 
verse principles. 

"  May  God,  therefore,  direct  your  thoughts,  and  second 
your  pious  endeavors,  for  effecting  this  or  any  other  good 
work,  that  may  contribute  to  the  advancement  or  enlarge- 
ment of  His  Church  ;  and  may  I  have  an  interest  in  your 

*  See  page  85. 


94  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

compassionate   prayers  and  benedictions  in  the  great  task 
that  lies  upon  me."* 

It  will  be  useful  to  trace  out  more  fully  the  rise  of  one 
of  these  churches  in  the  New-England  district."!  At  New- 
town, in  Connecticut,  a  young  and  zealous  Independent 
teacher.  Beach  by  name,  was  at  this  time  settled  over  a 
flourishing  Congregational  society.  His  ministry  had  been 
unusually  successful,  and  he  was  himself  the  idol  of  his 
flock.  Once  in  three  months  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson  visited 
five  episcopalian  famihes  then  settled  in  the  place  :  frequent 
meetings  and  earnest  discussions  between  the  two  teachers 
resulted  from  these  visits  ;  until  Mr.  Beach  began  at  length 
to  doubt  the  soundness  of  his  former  principles.  Slowly 
and  cautiously  did  he  make  i;p  his  mind.  The  first  serious 
alarm  was  suggested  to  his  flock,  after  two  or  three  years 
of  patient  meditation  had  passed  over  him,  by  his  frequently 
employing  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  public  worship,  and  even 
proceeding  to  read  to  them  whole  chapters  of  the  word  of 
God.  Then  he  ventured  to  condemn  a  custom  common  in 
their  meetings,  of  rising  to  bow  to  the  preacher  as  he  came 
in  amongst  them ;  instead  of  which,  he  begged  them  to 
kneel  down  and  worship  (iod.  This,  in  the  language  of 
the  day,  they  declared  to  be  "  rank  popery,"  and  no  slight 
presumption  that  Mr.  Beach  "would  one  day  "turn  Church- 
man ;  as  did  all  people,"  said  an  experienced  matron  of 
their  body,  "who  kept  on  i-eading  the  Church  books."  In 
this,  at  least,  they  were  not  deceived  ;  for  in  about  a  year 
Mr.  Beach,  whose  mind  was  now  thoroughly  convinced, 
told  the  people  from  the  pulpit,  tbat,  "from  a  serious  and 
prayerful  examination  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  the  writers 
of  the  earliest  ages  of  the  Church,  and  from  the  universal, 
acknowledgment  of  episcopal  government  for  1500  years, 
compared  Avith  the  recent  establishment  of  Presbyterian  and 
Congregational  discipline,  he  was  fully  convinced  of  the 
invalidity  of  his  ordination,  and  of  the  imscriptural  method 
of  organising  and  governing  congregations,  and  of  admitting 

*  Dated  "Stratford  in  Connecticut,  New  England,  Jan.  18, 
1723-4." 

•f-  This  account  is  taken  from  a  series  of  original  papers,  ■which 
appeared  in  1822-23  in  the  Churchman's  Magazine,  Hartford,  U.  S. 


PURITAN    OrPOSITION.  95 

persons  to  the  privilejres  of  church-membership,  as  by  them 
practised  ;  and  farther,  tliat  extempore  prayer  in  Christian 
assembhes  was  a  novelty  in  the  Christian  Church."  He 
therefore,  "in  the  face  of  Almighty  God,  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  conform  to  the  Church  of  England,  as  being  apos- 
tolic in  her  ministry  and  discipline,  orthodox  in  her  doctrine, 
and  primitive  in  her  worship."  He  "  affectionately  exhorted 
them  to  weigh  the  subject  well;  engaged  to  provide  for  the 
due  administration  of  the  sacraments  while  he  was  absent 
from  them,  and  spoke  of  his  intended  return  to  them  from 
England  in  holy  orders." 

So  greatly  was  he  beloved,  that  a  large  proportion  of  his 
people  seemed  ready  to  acquiesce  in  his  determmation.  But 
such  a  threatened  defection  the  Congregational  teachers  of 
the  neighborhood  could  not  see  with  unconcern.  They  set 
themselves  at  once  to  stir  up  the  embers  of  intestuie  strife 
against  their  awakening  brother,  and  at  length  assembled 
at  Newtowii,  m  1732,  and  in  spite  of  Mr.  Beach's  remon- 
strances, proceeded  to  depose  him  from  the  ministry.  From 
this  sprang  up  a  printed  discussion  between  Mr.  Beach  and 
his  deposers  ;  carried  on  with  kindness,  sobriety,  and  force 
of  reasoning  on  his  part,  and  with  no  little  harshness  of 
invective  upon  theirs. 

Thus,  in  one  of  these  attacks,  after  many  charges  against 
Mr.  Beach,  the  author  closes  with  a  general  condemnation 
of  the  EngUsh  Church,  as  an  "illegitimate  daughter  of  the 
harlot  of  Babylon;"  and  describes  her  bishops  as  "the  most 
vile  and  wretched  set  of  bemgs  that  ever  disgraced  human 
nature." 

Nor  was  this  all.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  Mr.  Beach  had  opened  a 
mission  to  a  small  tribe  of  native  Indians.  God  had  blessed 
his  labors,  and  amongst  these  despised  men  a  little  flock  was 
being  gathered  into  Christ's  true  fold.  This  the  Congrega- 
tional teachers  could  not  endure.  The  Indians  were  shrewd 
enough  to  meet  their  occasional  attempts  at  conversion 
with  the  plea  of  their  own  multiform  divisions.  "  We  va- 
lue not  your  gospel,  which  shows  so  many  roads  to  Kick- 
tang  (God):  some  of  them  must  be  crooked,  and  lead  to 
holbamockow"  (the  evil  spirit).    But  the  sectarian  teachers 


96  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

could  not  endure  that  Episcopalians  should  convert  these 
heathens  to  the  truth.  They  sent,  therefore,  an  agent 
amongst  Mr.  Beach's  flock,  with  ribald  ballads,  suited  to 
the  native  taste,  decrying  him  and  all  his  eflbrts.  And 
when  the  good  man  next  visited  his  native  flock,  instead 
-of  receiving  from  the  Sachem  the  calumet  of  peace,  and 
finding  a  circle  of  attentive  listeners,  eager  to  drink  in  his 
words,  he  was  met  by  the  taunts  and  derision  which  the 
heathens  had  been  too  industriously  taught. 

These  violent  proceedings  defeated  in  great  measure 
their  intended  purpose.  The  claims  of  the  Church  became 
the  subject  of  general  discussion.  The  eyes  of  many  were 
opened;  and  from  the  first  a  small  but  growing  company 
clave  to  Mr.  Beach.  Soon  after,  he  set  sail  for  England, 
bearing  with  him  the  foUowmg  testimonial  from  his  brethren 
in  Connecticut. 

"Mr.  Beach,"  it  says,  "had  his  education  at  Yale 
College,  where  he  made  uncommon  proficiency  in  learning, 
and  hath,  since  he  left  it,  taken  care  to  improve  himself 
in  divinity  and  oilier  useful  studies,  and  when  he  entered 
into  the  dissenting  ministry  (which  Avas  indeed  almost  the 
unavoidable  consequence  oi'  his  education  and  want  of 
proper  books)  he  was  thought  the  most  proper  person  to 
oppose  the  growth  of  the  Church  in  Newtown,  on  account  of 
the  good  opinion  that  every  one  had  of  his  learning  and 
piety,  and  was  accordingly  placed  there, — though  he  never 
did  anything  to  the  Church's  prejudice.  But  having  since, 
by  his  neighborhood  to  some  of  us,  had  the  advantage  of 
better  books  and  information,  he  hath  found  it  his  duty  to 
quit  their  service  and  come  over  to  our  communion,  where- 
by he  hath  done  great  service  to  the  Church  in  these  parts, 
and  we  doubt  not  will  always  be  an  honor  to  it,  if  your 
lordship  shall  think  fit  to  ordain  him,  and  the  honorable 
society  to  admit  him  into  their  service.  And  as  v/e  are 
well  assured  his  labors  will  be  of  great  use  here,  so  we  beg 
leaA'^e  to  assure  your  lordship  of  his  firm  attachment  to  the 
present  government  as  established  in  the  illustrious  house 
of  Hanover.  Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  we  humbly  hope 
your  lordship  and  the  honorable  society  will  think  fit  to 
empower  and  employ  him,  who  for  the  peace  of  his  eon- 


whitefield's  visit.  97 

science  hath  left  the  possessions  he  enjoyed,  and  now  taken 
a  lonn^  and  dangerous  voyage,  melancholy  in  itself,  but 
rendered  more  so  by  his  leaving  his  wife  and  children." 

Tlie  prayer  of  his  brethren  was  granted,  and  he  re- 
turned in  holy  orders  to  Connecticut.  In  a  little  while  a 
church  was  built  for  him ;  in  which,  and  in  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Reading,  he  muiistered  as  a  missionary  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Go^jiel,  to  a  faithful  and 
devoted  flock. 

In  this  state  things  continued  till  the  lime  of  Mr. 
Whitetield's  visit  to  New-England.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
his  preaching  produced  wonderful  eflects.  He  found  the 
flame  of  piety  already  burning  low  amongst  the  Independ- 
ent congregations  ;  for  in  the  institutions  of  no  separatist 
from  the  Church  has  the  gift  of  enduring  spiritual  vitality 
been  found.  He  boldly  charged  them  with  having  left 
"  the  platform"  of  their  ancient  doctrines,  and  reviled  them 
ill  his  sermons  under  the  unwelcome  titles  of  "  hirelings 
and  dumb  dogs,  half  beasts  and  half  devils."  He  endea- 
vored to  revive  the  ancient  spirit  by  a  series  of  violent  ex- 
citements. The  Indejjcndent  teachers  betook  themselves 
to  penal  inflictions,  subjecting  itmerants  to  heavy  penalties, 
and  excluding  them  from  the  protection  of  the  laws.  But 
the  flame  only  burned  the  fiercer  for  this  opposition.  Fana- 
ticism in  its  maddest  forms  triumphed  for  a  Avhile;  intro- 
ducing new  divisions  in  its  train,  and  leading  many  into 
the  open  profession  of  Antinomian  tenets.  These  scenes 
are  thus  described  in  the  letter  of  an  eye-witness  :* 

"  The  duties  and  labors  of  my  mission  are  exceedingly 
increased  by  the  surprising  enthusiasm,  or  what  is  worse, 
that  rages  among  us  :  the  centre  of  which  is  the  place  of 
my  residence.  Since  Mr.  Whitefield  was  in  this  country 
there  have  been  a  great  number  of  vagrant  preachers,  the 
most  remarkable  of  whom  is  Mr.  Davenport,  of  Long  Isl- 
and, who  came  to  New  London  in  July,  pronounced  their 
ministers  unconverted,  and  by  his  boisterous  behaviour  and 
vehement  crying,  '  Come  to  Christ,'  many  were  struck, 
as  the  phrase  is,  and  made  the  most  terrible  and  aflccting 

*  To  the  Bishop  of  London.     Fulham  mss. 
5 


98  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

noise,  that  was  heard  a  mile  from  the  place.  He  came  to 
tliis  society,  acted  iu  the  same  mamier  five  days,  and  was 
followed  by  great  numbers  ;  some  could  not  endure  the 
house,  saying  that  it  seemed  to  them  more  like  the  infernal 
regions  than  the  place  of  worshipping  the  God  of  heaven. 
Many,  after  the  amazing  horror  and  distress  that  seized 
them,  received  comfort  (as  they  term  it)  ;  and  five  or  six 
of  these  young  men  in  this  society  are  continually  going 
about,  especially  iu  the  night,  converting,  as  they  call  it, 
their  fellow-men.  Two  of  them,  as  their  minister  and  they 
affirm,  converted  above  two  hundred  in  an  Irish  town 
about  twenty  miles  back  in  the  country.  Their  meetings 
are  almost  every  night  in  this  and  the  neighboring  parishes ; 
and  the  most  astonishing  effects  attend  them, — screechings, 
faintings,  convulsions,  visions,  apparent  death  for  t\'«enty 
or  thirty  hours,  actual  possessions  with  evil  spirits,  as  they 
own  themselves ;  this  spirit  in  all  is  remarkably  bitter 
against  the  Church  of  England.  Two,  who  were  struck, 
and  proceeded  in  this  way  of  exhorting  and  praying,  until 
they  were  actually  possessed,  came  to  mc  and  asked  the 
questions  they  all  do  :  Are  yoi^  born  again  ?  Have  you 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit  ?  They  used  the  same  texts  of 
Scripture  as  the  rest,  taught  the  same  doctrines,  called  me 
Beelzebub  the  prince  of  devils,  and  during  their  possession 
burnt  a  large  amount  of  property.  They  have  since  both 
been  to  me,  asked  my  forgiveness,  and  bless  God  that  He 
has  restored  them  to  the  spirit  of  a  sound  mind. 

"  There  are  at  least  twenty  or  thirty  of  these  lay 
holders-forth  within  ten  miles  of  my  house,  Avho  hold  their 
meetmgs  every  night  in  the  week  in  some  place  or  other, 
excepting  Saturday  night  ;  and  incredible  pains  are  taken 
to  seduce  and  draw  away  the  members  of  my  church  ;  but, 
blessed  be  God,  we  still  rather  increase."* 

The  result  of  this  sudden  excitement  was  by  no  means 
favorable  to  the  ruling  sect.  "  The  Independents  or  Con- 
gregationalists,"  Mr.  Johnson  reports,  "  are  miserably  har- 
assed Avith  controversies  amongst  themselves,  at  the  same 
time  that  they  unite  against  the  Church.     One  great  cause 

*  Fulham  uss.  * 


THE    CIIL'RCH    IN    CONNECTICUT.  99 

of  their  quarrels  is  the  Arminian,  Calvinistic,  Antinomian, 
and  enthusiastic  controversies,  Avhich  run  hiph  ainonirst 
them,  and  create  great  ieuds  and  iiictions  ;  and  these  cliielly 
occasion  the  great  increase  of  the  Church,  as  they  put 
thinking  and  serious  persons  upon  coming  over  to  it,  from 
no  other  motive  than  the  love  of  truth  and  order,  and  a 
sense  of  duty ;  at  which  they  are  much  enraged,  though 
they  themselves  are  the  chief  occasion  of  it."*  "  When 
I  came  here  there  vi'ere  not  a  hundred  adult  persons  of  the 
Church  in  this  whole  colony,!  Avhereas  now  there  are  con- 
siderably more  than  two  thousand,  and  at  least  five  or  six 
thousand  young  and  old  ;  and  since  the  progress  of  this 
strange  spirit  of  enthusiasm,  it  seems  daily  very  much  m- 
creasmg."! 

From  such  fierce  divisions  many  learned  to  value  the 
peaceful  and  holy  shelter  of  the  Church  ;  and  Mr.  Beach 
received  so  large  an  accession  to  his  charge,  that  his  church 
would  not  hold  two-thirds  of  those  who  joined  him.  Not 
a  few  of  these  were  of  the  first  families  Avilhin  the  colony, 
and  a  new  and  spacious  building  was  soon  erected  for  him. 
The  same  causes  led  to  the  building  of  eight  other  churches 
within  different  neighboring  toAvns,  and  to  the  best  amongst 
the  Independent  teachers  joiiring  Ids  communion  and  re- 
ceiving holy  orders. 

Here  was  plainly  the  finger  of  God.  In  the  violent 
divisions  of  those  times,  as  well  as  in  the  deadness  which 
preceded  them,  were  the  elements  of  that  Socinian  leaven 
which  has  since  worked  so  fatally  throughout  those  parts  ; 
leading  m  1821  to  the  choice  of  the  chaplain  to  the  na- 
tional legislature  from  the  ranks  of  that  most  unhappy  sect. 
Yet,  in  establishing  the  Church,  these  very  evils  were  so 
overruled  by  God  as  to  funiish  their  own  antidote. 

In  Connecticut  her  roots  took  a  deeper  hold  in  the  soil, 
from  the  action  of  the  storms  amongst  which  she  had  grown 
up.  In  no  part  of  America  was  her  communion  so  pure 
and  apostolical  as  here.     Her  clergy  Avere,  for  the  most 

*  Letter  of  the  Rev.  S.  Johnson  to  the  Bishop  of  London.    Fulham 

MSS. 

t  Stratford,  in  New-England. 
I  Fulham  mss. 


100 


AMERICAN    CHURCH. 


part,  natives — men  of  earnest  piety,  of  settled  character, 
and  well  established  in  Church  principles ;  and  so  greatly 
did  she  flourish,  that  at  the  outbreak  of  the  troubles  which 
ended  in  the  separation  of  the  colonies  and  mother  country, 
there  was  every  reason  for  believing  that  another  term  of 
twenty  years'  prosperity,  such  as  she  had  last  enjoyed, 
would  have  brought  full  half  the  population  of  the  state 
within  her  bosom. 

A  contemporary  writer,  professing  himself  "unable  to 
recollect  the  names  of  the  multifarious  religious  sects"  then 
existing  in  Connecticut,  adds  the  following  list  "of  a  few 
of  the  most  considerable." 


Episcopalians 

Scotch  Presbyterians 

Sandemanians 

Sandemanians  Bastard 

Lutherans     . 

Baptists 

Seven-day  do. 

Gluakers 

Davisonians 

Separatists    . 

Rogereens     . 

Bowlists 

Old  Lights    . 

New  Lights 


CongregatioD3. 

73 

1 

1 

1 

1 

6 

1 

4 

1 
40 

1 

1 
80 
87 


So  greatly  had  the  Church  gained  upon  the  sects  around 
her,  through  the  zeal  and  piety  which  here  adorned  her 
members. 

But  this  is  far  the  brightest  spot  in  the  whole  picture. 
Here  and  there,  indeed,  throughout  the  continent  individual 
zeal  imparted  life  and  warmth  to  separate  congregations. 
But  altogether  there  are  few  of  the  marks  of  the  Church 
Catholic  impressed  in  that  age  upon  the  English  branch  of 
it  settled  in  America.  Seldom,  if  ever,  was  she  zealous 
and  fid]  of  love  and  holy  luiion  inwardly,  and  to  those 
without  "  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners."  There  was 
a  general  languor  of  devotion ;  sects  and  divisions  mvdtiplied 


WHITEFIELD    IN    MRGINIA.  101 

and  often  gained  upon  the  Church ;  her  own  sons  grew 
careless  or  apostates,  and  scarcely  anythhig  was  done  to 
bring  the  Indian  tribes  around  her  to  the  knowledge  of  her 
Lord.  All  this  may  be  traced  most  easily  in  the  history  of 
Virginia,  where  from  different  causes  it  was  most  signally 
developed.  A  hasty  sketch  of  such  a  painful  subject  will 
be  all  that  is  required. 

From  a  contemporary  wriler*  it  appears,  that  in  the 
year  1722  there  were  in  Virginia  not  lewcr  than  seventy 
churches,  with  dwelling-houses  and  glebes  for  the  incum- 
bent in  almost  every  parish.  Dissent  was  scarcely  known; 
since  it  is  still  a  matter  of  dispute,  M'hcther  there  were  in 
the  M'hole  country  three  meetings  of  Gluakers  and  one  of 
Presbyterians,  or  whether  one  of  Gluakers  stood  alone. 
"For  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,"  Dr.  Hawks  complains, 
"the  Church  had  been  fixed  in  Virginia,  and  yet  the  state 
of  religion  was  deplorably  low."  "  Many  of  the  clergy 
were  unfitted  for  their  stations  ;"  and  the  laity,  from  "  loose 
principles  and  immoral  practices,  were  often  a  scandal  to 
their  country  and  religion."  Here  and  there  a  light  sprung 
up,  as  in  the  case  of  Morgan  Morgan,  a  humble  and  zeal- 
ous layman,  through  whose  labors  the  faith  Avas  planted  in 
the  newer  western  settlements,  amongst  a  population  com- 
posed chiefly  of  Presbyterian  emigrants  from  Ireland.  It 
was  in  the  year  1740  that  he  erected  the  first  church  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  valley  of  Virginia. 
But  such  men  were  rare ;  while  for  the  most  part  all  was 
lethargy. 

In  this  state  Mr.  \Yhilcfield  found  religion  in  the  colony. 
As  an  English  clergyman  he  was  readily  received,  and  at 
the  desire  of  Dr.  Blair,  then  commissary  for  the  bishop  of 
London,  he  preached  at  the  seat  of  government  and  else- 
where. He  was  here  far  more  restrained,  and  proportion- 
ably  useful,  than  amidst  the  wild  sectarian  wastes  of  the 
New-England  colonies.  His  eflbrts  kindled  some  zeal 
amongst  a  lukeAvarm  people  ;  but  his  addresses,  which  were 
made  too  exclusively  to  the  mere  emotions  of  his  hearers, 
and  not  sufficiently  directed  to  the  general  revival  of  a 

•  Present  State  of  Virgmia,  by  Rev.  Hugh  Jones. 


102  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

drooping  Clmrch,  laid  few  or  no  foundations  for  a  really 
permanent  result.  The  feelings  of  the  moment  passed 
away  AA'ith  the  passing  voice  which  had  awakened  them  ; 
and  left,  it  must  he  feared,  the  hearts  which  they  had  inef- 
fectually visited  even  colder  than  they  were  hefore.  No 
lasting  blessings  seem  to  have  followed  from  these  labors. 
Soon  after  his  visit,  earnest,  but  irregular  attempts  for  the 
diffusion  of  relinfion  were  made  throujrhout  the  eastern  dis- 
tricts  by  a  pious  layman  of  the  name  of  Morris.  These, 
after  a  little,  led  to  the  settlement  in  various  parts  of  Pres- 
byterian teachers  from  New-England.  At  first  the  local 
government  objected  to  their  entrance ;  but  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  of  toleration  they  made  good  their  footing, 
and  by  a  more  apparent  earnestness  drew  away  many 
from  the  Church.  With  them  the  Anabaptists,  a  few  of 
whom  had  come  long  since  from  England,  now  rose  into 
notice.  They  had  recently  been  strengthened  by  allies 
from  Maryland ;  and  they  now  appeared  in  force,  ready  to 
join  with  any  adversary  of  the  Church. 

The  time  of  their  appearance  was  propitious  for  their 
purpose.  The  endowment  of  the  clergy  of  the  colony,  from 
very  early  times,  consisted  of  a  certain  fixed  weight  of  to- 
bacco, tlie  staple  produce  of  the  land.  Some  years  before 
this  time,  a  fiiling  liarvest  had  so  greatly  raised  its  price, 
as  to  make  this  mode  of  payment  burdensome,  and  a  fixed 
money-payment  had  been  substituted  for  it  until  the  scar- 
city was  over.  To  this  expedient  another  threatened  failure 
of  the  crop  shortly  afterwards  again  inclined  the  colonial 
legislature.  But  the  act  was  disallowed  at  home,  and  the 
clergy  disputed  its  authority  by  legal  process.  The 
courts  of  law  decided  in  their  favor;  but  when  damages 
came  to  be  assessed,  the  jury,  predisjioscd  by  popular 
impression,  and  wrought  on  by  a  sudden  burst  of  eloquence 
from  the  opposing  counsel,  awarded  such  as  were  merely 
nominal.  The  court,  luider  the  same  influence,  refused 
another  trial ;  and  the  clergy  lost  alike  their  rights  and  the 
little  which  remained  to  them  of  the  affections  of  the  peo- 
ple. So  rapid  at  this  time  was  the  progress  of  dissent,  that 
a  few  years  later  it  claimed,  as  belonging  to  its  ranks,  two- 
thirds  of  all  the  population.     All  things,  indeed,  were  out 


WANT    OF    EXDOWMENTS.  103 

of  joint.  Ill  a  country  containing'  not  less  tlian  half  a  mil- 
lion souls  (all  of  them  professing  the  Christian  religion,  and 
a  majority  of  them  members  of  the  Church  of  England, 
living  under  British  govenment  and  laws,  and  in  general 
thriving,  if  not  opulent),  there  was  yet  not  a  single  college, 
and  only  one  school  with  an  endowment  adequate  to  the 
maintenance  of  even  a  common  mechanic*  Two-thirds 
of  all  the  little  education  of  the  colony  was  given  by  indented 
servants  or  transported  felons. 

The  causes  of  this  state  of  things  are  well  worth  ex- 
ammation.  Some  of  them  were  evidently  peculiar  to  Virgi- 
nia, in  which  and  in  Maryland  alone  such  questions  on  the 
rights  of  property  could  have  arisen.  But  in  other  parts 
matters  were  not,  on  the  whole,  much  better.  Nowhere 
was  the  Church  flourishing  and  spreading.  Everj'^where 
division  multiplied.  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Moravians, 
Methodists,  Tunkers,  Shakers,  Gluakers,  Socinians,  and 
Infidels,  grew  daily  in  importance,  and  shed  on  every  side 
of  them  the  fruitful  seed  of  farther  subdivision.  In  1729, 
Berkeley  found  at  Newport,  in  Rhode  Island,  "  a  mixed 
kind  oi'  inhabitants,  consisting  of  many  sects  and  subdivi- 
sions of  sects;  ibur  sorts  of  Anabaptists,  besides  Presbyte- 
rians, Gluakers,  Independents,  and  many  of  no  profession  at 
all."t  To  the  northward  and  eastward  of  Maryland  there 
were  but  eighty  parochial  clergymen ;  and  all  of  these, 
except  in  the  towns  of  Boston  and  Newport,  New- York 
and  Philadelphia,  were  missionaries  sent  out  from  England 
by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospei. 

The  best  calculation  of  the  numbers  of  the  white  popu- 
lation, and  of  the  various  religious  persuasions  on  the  con- 
tinent of  North  America,  transmitted  to  the  Bishop  of 
London,!  in  1761,  gave  the  following  results: — 

*  Boucher's  American  Revolution,  pp.  183,  184. 
f  Berkeley's  Letters,  p.  xxxviL 
j  Fulham  mss. 


104 


AMERICAN    CHURCH. 


North  American  Continekt. 

Whites. 

Church 
People. 

13,000 

40,000 

25,000 

10,000 

65,000* 

30,000 

60,000 

18,000 

20,000 

Presbyte- 
rians aud 
Independ- 
ents. 

Quakers 
German  & 
Dutch  of 
various 
sects, 
Jews,  Pa- 
pists, kC. 

Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia. 

Four  New-England  Colonics 
Ne-.v  Hampshire        .     1^0,000 
nisssachnsetts  .         .  250,000 
Rhode  Island             .     35,000 
Connecticut      .        .  120,000 

25,000 

435,000 

100,000 

100,000 

280,000 

00,000 

80  000 

36,000 

22,000  ) 

6,000  5 

6,000 

250,000 
20,000 
40,000 
45,000 

6,000 
10,000 

9,000 

5,000 

6,000 

14.5,000 
55,000 
44,000 

17(l,000t 

18.000+ 

10,000 

9,000 

3,000 
460,000 

New-York      .... 

New  Jtirsey    .... 

Pennsylvania 

Maryland        .... 

Virginia           .... 

North  Caroliua 

South  Carolina 

Georgia .        .                 .        . 

Total 

1,144,000 

293,000 

391,000 

*  This  includes  40,000  Swedes  and   German  Lutherans,  wl 
their  service,  &c.  the  same  as  that  of  tlie  Church. 

t  Ahout  a  third  of  these  are  Quakers,  about  10,000  Papists 
Germans  of  various  sects. 

J  Chiefly  Papists. 

0  reckon 
,  the  rest 

Some  general  cause  there  must  have  been  for  such  a 
state  of  things.  The  power  of  Christ's  truth  could  not  be 
worn  out.  That  church  which  had  hitherto  subdued  all 
people,  rude  or  polished^  against  whom  she  had  gone  fortli, 
had  she  lost  her  empire  over  men's  hearts  ?  She  who  had 
conquered  the  conquerors  of  the  great  Roman  empire,  and 
gathered  one  and  another  of  the  hordes  of  Gothic  and  Teu- 
tonic blood,  who  had  invaded  her  dominion,  into  the  faith 
and  hope  of  the  people  whom  they  conquered, — she  seemed 
in  the  West  not  only  to  have  lost  lier  subduing  might,  but 
to  be  powerless  even  to  retain  her  hold  upon  her  own. 

It  is  not  very  difficult  to  find  the  cause  for  this  great 
difTerence.  Her  planting  in  America  had  been  after  a  new 
and  unknown  manner.  Heretofore  tlie  great  aim  of  her 
founders,  in  any  country,  had  been  to  make  her  truly  indi- 
genous— to  reproduce  her  out  of  the  people  amongst  whom 
she  had  come.     For  this  end  she  was  sent  forth  complete, 


DIFFICULTY    OF   OBTAINING    ORDINATION.  105 

—a  livliifr  germ,  Avitli  all  tlie  powers  of  reproduction  in 
herself.  To  this,  as  the  greatest  work  of  Christians,  the 
boldest  and  trnest  hearts  were  summoned ;  and  he  who 
won  and  held  a  band  of  converts  to  her  Lord,  was  conse- 
crated bishop  of  the  Church  amongst  them,  if  he  went  not 
out  in  that  holy  character.  Thus  he  could  at  once  ordain 
new  pastors  and  evangelists  from  amongst  his  native  con- 
verts. Througli  them  he  could  extend  his  influence  ;  at 
their  mouths  the  truths  he  taught,  coming  to  the  hearers 
in  the  beloved  tongue  of  their  fathers'  land,  Avere  listened 
to  with  new  readiness.  Their  blood,  if  persecution  arose, 
was  at  once  the  seed  of  new  converts  :  the  Church  was 
perfect  and  complete,  and  she  went  on  conquering  and  to 
conquer.  Such  was  the  equipment  of  Pothinus  of  old, 
when  with  Irenaeus  as  his  deacon,  he  went  from  Asia  to 
sow  amongst  the  Gauls  the  seed  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  the 
Church  of  Lyons  was  his  glorious  harvest.  So  Boniface 
went  forth  from  this  land  of  ours,  to  become  "  the  apostle 
of  Germany."  But  wholly  unhke  this  was  our  equipment 
of  the  Church  in  America.  We  sent  out  individual  teachers, 
with  no  common  bond  of  visible  unity,  no  directing  head, 
no  power  of  ordaining  ;  we  maintained  them  there  like  the 
garrison  of  a  foreign  Church  ;  and  the  consequence  was, 
what  might  have  been  foretold,  the  Church  languished  and 
almost  passed  away.  To  this  fault  the  religious  evils  of 
that  land  may  be  distinctly  traced.  Throughout  the 
northern  colonies  the  scattered  missionaries,  whom  the 
venerable  society  sent  out  and  paid, — who  had  no  connex- 
ion with  each  other,  no  common  head,  and  no  co-operation 
in  their  work, — were  the  representatives  of  the  body  of 
foreigners  across  the  ocean  who  supported  and  directed 
them.  And  even  in  the  southern  colonies,  where  the 
Church  was  estabhshed  with  provincial  endowments,  the 
want  of  bishops  produced  the  same  eflect.  There  was  no 
power  of  obtaining  ordination  in  America  :  hence  any  young 
Americans,  who  desired  to  enter  the  ministry,  must  cross 
the  Atlantic  to  receive  lioly  orders.  This  was  both  costly 
and  perilous.  One  in  five,  it  has  been  calculated,  of  all 
who  set  out  returned  no  more.*  Hence  in  a  new  country, 
*  The  small-pox  was  exceedingly  fatal  to  Americans  ■who  visited 
*0 


106  AJIERICAN   CHURCH. 

where  every  sort  of  employment  abounded,  few  parents 
devoted  their  children  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The 
earhest  bent  was  given  in  a  contrary  direction.  The  native 
candidates  were  therefore  few ;  whilst  of  those  who  were 
sent  out  from  England,  some,  in  spite  of  every  care  at  home, 
would  be  those  whose  characters  were  most  unfit  for  such 
a  post, — who  proposed  themselves  for  that  peculiar  service 
because  they  desired  to  escape  the  vigilance  of  Episcopal 
control.  This  brought  a  reproach  upon  the  priesthood  ; 
and  the  proper  check  on  clerical  unfitness  being  thus  want- 
ing, the  people  began  to  substitute  another.  Upon  any 
vacancy,  the  governor  and  commissary  recommended  a 
successor  to  a  Virginian  benefice.  The  vestry  received  the 
minister  so  sent,  and  he  then  officiated  in  their  church. 
If  they  chose,  they  might  present  him  for  induction  to  the 
governor;  and  when  inducted,  he  had  full  and  legal  pos- 
session of  the  benefice.  But  the  common  practice  was  to 
receive  the  minister,  and  give  him  in  possession  the  fruits 
of  the  benefice,  without  presenting  him  for  due  induction  ; 
and  then  the  vestry  could  dismiss  him  when  they  chose. 
This  seems  to  have  been  meant  at  first  to  guard  the  people 
from  unworthy  pastors.  Fi'om  the  natui'e  of  the  case, 
there  could  be  scarcely  any  other  check  on  such  men.  The 
Bishop  of  London,  indeed,  had  his  commissaries  in  Ame- 
rica ;  but  their  limited  power  and  derived  authority  could 
do  little  when  their  principal  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  Nor  was  the  power  of  the  Bishop  of  London 
himself  over  those  distant  provinces  certain  or  well  defined. 
Whence  it  had  first  sprung  is  exceedingly  uncertain.  The 
most  probable  account  attributes  it  to  the  hearty  concur- 
rence of  the  then  Bishoj)  of  London  in  the  earliest  scliemes 
of  the  Virginian  Company  for  establishing  tlie  Church 
amongst  their  settlers.  This  led  to  his  being  requested  to 
find  and  appoint  their  first  clergy  ;  and  from  this  practice 
there  gradually  gi-ew  up  a  notion  that  there  were  in  some 
M^ay  in    his   diocese.     Thus,   Bishop    Compton  wrote,    in 

England.  Within  a  very  few  years,  seven  candidates  for  orders 
from  the  northern  cohjnies  died  during  their  absence  from  America. 
Amongst  these  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Johnson,  mentioned  above,  p.  85, 
who  sunk  under  the  small-pox. 


BISHOP  OF  London's  colonial  jurisdiction.        107 

March  1676,  "  As  the  care  of  your  churches,  with  the  rest 
of  the  plantations,  hes  upon  me  as  your  diocesan,  so  to  dis- 
charge that  trust,  I  shall  omit  no  occasions  of  promoting 
their  good  and  interest."* 

Such  the  practice  continued  until  the  appointment  of 
Bishop  Gibson  to  the  see  of  London.  Upon  inquiring  into 
the  source  of  his  authority,  he  was  told,  that,  though  no 
strict  ecclesiastical  title  could  be  fomid,  yet  by  an  order  in 
council  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  the  colonies 
were  made  a  part  of  the  see  of  London.  For  tiiis  order 
he,  being  a  careiul  man,  caused  a  diligent  search  to  be 
made,  when  he  discovered  that  none  such  existed.  Find- 
ing, therefore,  no  ground  whatever  on  which  to  rest  his 
claim  of  jurisdiction,  he  declined  even  to  appoint  a  com- 
missary. Thus  the  colonies  were  separated  I'rom  all  Epis- 
copal control.  But  after  a  while,  having  obtained  a  spe- 
cial commission  from  the  crown,  committing  this  charge  to 
him,  and  tliinking  it  better,  under  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  to  act  under  this  authority  than  to  abandon  them 
entirely,  he  began  to  discharge  it  with  his  usual  fidelity. 
Yet  even  then  he  felt  that  his  hold  upon  those  distant  parts 
was  little  what  it  should  be,  if  he  were  mdeed  to  deem 
himself  their  bishop.  Every  line  of  his  first  address  to 
themt  breathes  this  spirit. 

"  Being  called,"  he  tells  them,  "  by  the  providence  of 
God  to  the  government  and  administration  of  the  diocese 
of  London,  by  which  the  care  of  the  churches  in  the  foreign 
plantations  is  also  devolved  upon  me,  I  think  it  my  duty 
to  use  all  proper  means  of  attaining  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  places,  persons,  and  matters  entrusted  to  my  care. 
And  as  the  plantations,  and  the  constitutions  of  the  churches 
there,  are  at  a  far  greater  distance,  and  much  less  known 
to  me,  than  the  affairs  of  my  diocese  here  at  home,  so  it  is 
the  more  necessary  for  me  to  have  recourse  to  the  best  and 
most  effectual  methods  of  coming  to  a  right  knowledge  of 
the  state  and  condition  of  them.  Which  knowledge  I  shall 
not  fail,  by  the  grace  of  God,  faithfully  to  employ  to  the 
ser\'ice  of  piety  and  religion,  and  to  the  maintenance  of 

*  Fulham  mss.  t  Dated  Nov.  2,  1723. 


108  AMERICAN   CHITECH- 

order  and  regularity  in  the  Cliurch."  He  then  furnishes 
a  paper  of  inquiries,  and  promises  his  "  best  advice  andas^ 
sistauce,  in  order  to  the  successful  and  comfortable  discharge 
of  their  ministerial  fuuctioti." 

This  authority,  shadowy  as  it  was,  expired  with  the 
life  of  Bishop  Gibson  ;  since  the  commission  under  which 
he  acted  was  granted  only  to  liimself  personally,  and  not 
to  his  successors.*  How  little  it  sufficed  to  maintain  any 
form  of  discipline  was  shown  in  the  fearful  laxity  of  con- 
duct which  was  visible  on  every  side.  Thus,  at  this  very 
time,  the  marriage-licenseSj  which,  by  a  first  stretch  of  prin- 
ciple, had  been  granted  to  any  "Protestant  minister,"  in- 
stead of  the  autiiorized  clergy,  were  now  "  expounded  to 
inteird  a  justice  of  the  peace,  as  being  a  minister  of  justice, 
and  a  Protestant  by  religion  ;"t  and  they  accordingly  took 
upon  them  to  marry  all  applicants  at  their  own  pleasure. 
No  one  felt  this  want  of  discipline  more  keenly  than  the 
Bishop  of  London.  But  it  was  beyond  his  power  to  remedy 
the  evil ;  and,  as  is  commonly  the  case  where  the  true 
safeguard  provided  by  the  Church  is  carelessly  neglected, 
men  began  to  invent  others  for  themselves.  Thus,  in  the 
state  of  Maryland,  where  the  scandal  of  ill-living  clergy- 
men had  risen  to  a  fearful  height,  acts  were  passed  by  the 
provincial  assemblies  subjecting  the  clergy  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  a  board  of  laymen,  or  mingled  laymen  and  clergy- 
men. It  was  in  vain  that  men  of  the  highest  character 
amongst  the  clergy  exclaimed  against  a  proposal  so  utterly 
at  variance  with  all  ecclesiastical  principle.  The  pressing 
evil  was  keenly  felt ;  and  in  the  absence  of  the  true  Church- 
remedy,  they  sought  another  for  themselves.  This  law 
they  would  have  carried  into  operation,  if  it  had  not  been 
defeated  by  the  opposition  of  the  governor  on  grounds  of 
state-policy. 

*  Bishop  Sherlock,  in  1*749,  tells  Dr.  Johnson  that  he  ■will  appoint 
a  commissary  "  as  soon  as  I  take  a  proper  autliority  from  the  king, 
"which  I  have  hitherto  delayed,  in  liopes  of  seeing  another  and  better 

settlement  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  the  country I  am  persuaded 

that  no  bishop  residing  in  England  ought  to  have,  or  will  willingly 
undertake  the  province." — Life  of  Dr.  Johnson,  pp.  131-2. 

f  Fulham  mss. 


te 


kesistance:  to  the  clergy.  109 

So  also  it  was  in  Virginia.  To  secure  that  which  law- 
ful authority  should  have  provided  for  them,  the  vestries 
at  first  desired  to  try  their  pastors  before  they  confirmed 
their  full  appointment.  And  this,  as  was  natural,  soon 
grew  into  a  great  abuse.  The  vestries  were  now  the 
masters  of  the  clergy.  On  the  most  paltry  or  unworthy 
grounds  they  changed  their  minister.  If  he  testified  Avith 
boldness  against  any  prevalent  iniquity,  the  people  whom 
his  zeal  ofiended  soon  rid  themselves  of  so  disagreeable  a 
monitor.  Hence  ecclesiastical  appointments  in  the  colony 
grcAV  into  disrepute.  Few  would  accept  such  uncertain 
stations;  and  those  few  were  led  to  do  so  by  necessity. 
Thus  the  clergy  declmed  both  in  numbers  and  character. 
From  this  sprang  another  evil.  The  lack  of  clergj^  led  to 
a  general  employment  of  lay  readers.  These  lay  readers 
were  natvirally  taken  from  a  lower  class  than  the  ordained 
clergy  ;  they  were  also  natives.  It  was  not  dilTicult  for 
them  to  insinuate  themselves  into  the  regard  of  the  con* 
gregations  which  they  served  ;  and  it  happened  frequent- 
ly that  the  benefice  was  kept  unfilled  in  order  to  prolong 
the  more  acceptable  services  of  the  unordaiiied  reader. 

Thus  at  every  hand  the  Church  was  weakened.  The 
laity  were  robbed  of  the  sacraments,  and  led  to  choose 
their  pastors  on  unworthy  grounds.  The  clergj'  who  came 
out  were  those  least  fitted  for  a  work  which,  far  more  than 
that  of  ordinary  stations,  required  the  highest  gifts  of  holy 
zeal  and  knowledge.  For  in  Virginia  causes  of  moral  and 
social  corruption  were  at  Vv-ork  which  nothing  but  the  holy 
faith  in  its  utmost  vigor  could  counteract.  From  an  early 
time  the  curse  of  slavery  had  rested  upon  Virginian  so- 
ciety. Conditional  servitude,  under  covenants,  had  been 
coeval  with  the  first  settlement  of  the  colony.  The  emi- 
grant was  bound  to  render  to  liis  master  the  full  cost  of 
his  transportation.  This  led  to  a  species  of  traffic  in  those 
who  could  be  persuaded  to  embark.  The  speculation  proved 
so  lucrative  that  numbers  soon  took  part  in  it  ;  since  men 
might  be  imported  at  a  cost  of  eight  pomids,  who  would 
afterwards  be  sold  in  the  colony  for  Ibrty  pounds.*     So 

*  Smith,  i.  105.     Bullock's  Virginia,  p.  14,  quoted  by  Bancroft. 


110  AMEUICAN    CHURCH. 

established  became  this  evil,  that  white  men  were  pur- 
chased on  shipboard  as  horses  are  bought  at  a  fair.*  This 
under  the  rule  of  the  Parliament,  was  the  fate  of  the  roy- 
alist prisoners  of  the  battle  of  Worcester.  To  this  was 
added  in  1620  negro  slavery,  which  differed  from  indented 
serviture  in  being  perpetual  instead  of  for  a  term  of  years, 
and  in  the  degradations  which  the  distinctive  features  of 
the  race  of  Ham  soon  associated  with  it.  Marriage  was 
early  forbidden,  under  ignominious  penalties,  between  the 
races  of  the  master  and  the  slave  ;t  and  the  grievous  so- 
cial evils  which  follow  the  dishonor  of  humanity  sprung 
up  freely  around.  "  All  servants,"^  was  the  enactment 
of  1670,  "  not  being  Christians,  imported  into  this  coun- 
try by  shipping,  shall  be  slaves  ;"  yet  it  was  added,  "  cou- 
ver.sion  to  the  Christian  faith  doth  not  make  free."  The 
death  of  a  slave  from  extremity  of  correction  was  not  ac-- 
counted  felony  ;  and  it  was  made  lawful  for  "  persons 
pursuing  fugitive  colored  slaves  to  wound  or  even  to  kill 
them." 

The  evils  which  such  laws  attest  and  aggravate  were 
yet  more  exasperated  by  the  whole  character  of  the  first 
centuriesof  Virginian  life.  "Whilst  the  New-England  settlers 
were  early  gathered  into  villages,  and  even  towns,  the 
Virginian  landowners  d^velt  apart  from  one  another,  each 
one  a  petty  despot  over  his  indented  servants  and  his 
slaves.  Bridle-ways  were  their  roads  ;^  bridges  were  un- 
known ;  and  the  widely  scattered  population  met  at  most 
but  once  on  the  Lord's  Day  for  worship,  and  often  not  at 
all  ;  while  the  remoter  families  could  rarely  find  their  way 
through  the  mighty  forests  to  the  distant  walls  of  their 
church.  Education  was  almost  neglected.  "  Every 
man,"  said  the  governor,  in  1671, ||  "  instructs  his  eliildren 
according  to  his  ability  ;"  and  what  this  instruction  was, 
may  be  gathered  from  another  of  his  sayings  ;  "I  thank 
God  there  are  no  free-schools  nor  printers  ;  and  I  hope  we 
shall  not  have  them  these  hundred  years." 

In  such  a  state  of  things  religion  could  not  flourish, 

*  Bancroft,  i.  111.  f  Henry,  i.  146.  quoted  by  Biincroft. 

X  Bancroft,  ii.  193.  §  lb.  p!  219,  &c.  ||  lb.  p.  192. 


WANT    OP   UISHOPS.  Ill 

and  a  miiiistr}^  already  depressed  was  sure  to  sink  into 
absolute  debasement.  Tlie  Church  was  best  served  by 
those  ministers,  as  we  have  seen,  whom  she  had  gained 
over  in  New  England  from  the  ranks  of  Congregational 
dissent ;  ibr  these  were  natives  of  the  land,  trained  to  the 
work,  and  men  of  earnest  zeal  and  self-denying  love  of 
truth.  But  here,  too,  the  want  of  bishops  and  the  whole 
Church-system  was  lamentably  felt.  The  sectaries  around 
them  possessed  each  tlieir  own  system,  such  as  it  was,  in 
perfection :  they  could  appoint  and  send  out  teachers  ; 
gather  in  the  young  and  active  to  the  work  ;  hold  their 
synods  and  conventions ;  act,  in  short,  as  a  living  and  or- 
ganised body.  "  It  is  hard,"  was  the  complaint  of  Church- 
men at  the  time,  "  that  these  large  and  increasing  disper- 
sions of  the  true  Protestant  English  Church  should  not  be 
provided  with  bishops,  when  our  enemies,  the  Roman 
CathoUcs  of  France  and  Spain,  find  their  account  in  it  to 
provide  them  for  theirs.  Even  Canada,  which  is  scarce 
bigger  than  some  of  our  provinces,  has  her  bishop  ;  not  to 
mention  the  little  whimsical  sect  of  Moravians,  Avho  also 
have  theirs."*  "  The  poor  Church  of  America  is  worse 
ofi'  ui  this  respect  than  any  of  her  adversaries.  The 
Presbyterians  have  come  a  great  way  to  lay  hands  on  one 
another  (though,  after  all,  they  had  as  good  stay  at  home, 
for  the  good  they  do)  ;  the  Independents  are  called  by 
their  sovereign  lord  the  people ;  the  Anabaptists  and 
Gluakers  pretend  to  the  Spirit :  but  the  poor  Church  has 
nobody  upon  tlie  spot  to  comfort  or  confirm  her  children, 
— nobody  to  ordain  such  as  are  w^illing  to  serve  ;  there- 
fore they  faU  back  into  the  hands  of  the  dissenters."! 
These  complaints  were  but  too  well  founded.  Only  that 
communion  which  clave  close  to  the  apostohc  model  was  on 
all  sides  cramped  and  weakened  :  without  the  centre  of 
visible  unity — without  the  direction  of  common  efi'orts — • 
without  the  power  of  confirming  the  young,  wliilst  it 
taught  the  young  that  there  was  a  blessing  in  the  very 
rite  which  it  withheld  from  them — without  the  power  of 
ordination,   whilst  it  maintained  that  it  was  needlld  for  a 

*  Fulham  mss.  f  Fulham  mss. 


112  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

true  succession  of  the  priestliood, — declaring,  by  its  oM^n 
teaching,  its  maimed  and  imperfect  condition,  and  feeling 
it  practically  at  every  turn. 

"  There  is  a  dispute  amongst  our  clergy,"  says  Mr. 
Johnson,*  applying  for  directions  from  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, "  relating  to  the  exhortation  after  baptism  to  the 
godfather,  to  bring  the  child  to  the  bishop  to  be  confirmed. 
tSome  wholly  omit  this  exhortation,  because  it  is  imprac- 
ticable ;  others  insert  the  words  '  if  there  be  opportunity,' 
because  our  adversaries  object  it  as  a  mere  jest  to  order 
the -godfather  to  bring  the  child  to  the  bishop  when  there 
is  not  one  within  a  thousand  leagues  of  us,  which  is  a  re- 
proach that  we  cannot  answer." 

At  any  time,  and  under  any  circumstances,  such  a 
state  of  things  must  have  been  widely  and  fatally  per- 
nicious. But  in  this  case  the  injury  was  even  more  than 
usually  great.  Many  causes  had  been  in  operation,  from 
the  era  of  the  Reformation,  which  tended  to  make  the 
bishops  the  only  external  centres  of  vigorous  and  united 
action  in  the  English  Church.  From  changes  in  the  body 
politic,  from  the  weakening  of  her  synods  and  councils,  and 
from  the  loneliness  of  her  condition,  almost  every  element  of 
outward  strength  aucf  visible  unity  was  now  centred  in  the 
episcopal  otfice.  The  clergy,  therefore,  of  such  a  Church, 
when  set  down  in  the  far  West,  without  a  bishop  nearer 
than  the  see  of  London,  were  at  once  reduced  to  the  ut- 
most extremity  of  weakness.  They  had  no  other  lines  oi 
strength  upon  which  to  fall  back  to  rally  and  re-form  their 
broken  ranks ;  and  they  became  thus  single-handed  com- 
batants, instead  of  marching  in  combined  phalanx  against 
a  common  scattered  foe.  Deeply  Avas  this  felt  by  the 
most  earnest  and  sjiiritual  amongst  them ;  and  moving,  of- 
tentimes, were  their  entreaties  to  the  Church,  which  had 
thus  put  them  forth  unfitted  for  their  charge,  to  send  them 
over  the  succession  of  the  apostolical  episcopate. 

Year  after  year  their  lamentations  and  entreaties 
crossed  the  Atlantic.  "We  beg,"t  they  M^rite  at  onetime 
to  the  Bishop  of  London,   "  your  fatherly  compassion  on 

*  Fulhara  mss. 
f  From  New-London  in  Connecticut.     Fnlham  mss. 


THE  CHIJECH  LANGUISHING.  113 

our  truly  pitiable  circumstances ;  we  are  forty-four  miles 
from  the  nearest  Church  of  England  to  us the  in- 
cumbent of  which  hath  visited  us  four  times  a  year.  There 
have  been  several  adults  and  infants  baptised  amongst  us, 
....  and  a  church  raised,  wliich  we  hope  to  have  finished 
by  the  next  fall.  We  have  never,  since  our  first  settle- 
ment, had  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  or  its  comfortable  sacra- 
ments, regularly  administered  to  us  by  any  episcopal  min- 
ister ;  whereby  sundry  persons  bred  up  in  the  Church  of 
England  at  home,  others  that  have  been  baptised  here  and 
become  conformists,  and  a  greater  number  still  strongly 
inclined  to  confonnity,  do  labor  under  that  last  and  most 
grievous  unhappiness  of  being  left  ourselves  and  leaving 
our  posterity  in  this  wilderness,  excluded  as  wild  unculti- 
vated trees,  from  the  saving  benefits  of  a  transplantation 
into  your  soundest  part  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church." 

Similar  appeals  were  sent  from  all  parts  of  the  Conti- 
nent. "The  Church,"  they  say,  "is  daily  languishhig 
for  want  of  bishops."  "  Some  that  were  born  of  the  Eng- 
lish have  never  heard  the  name  of  Christ,  and  many 
others  who  were  baptised  into  his  name  have  fallen  away 
to  heathenism,  quakerism,  and  atheism,  for  want  of  con- 
firmation." *  "  It  seems  the  strangest  thmg  in  the  world, 
and  it  is  thought  history  cannot  parallel  it,  that  any  place 
which  has  received  the  Word  of  Grod  so  many  years  should 
still  remain  altogether  in  the  wilderness  as  sheep  without 
a  shepherd."  "  There  never  was  so  large  a  tract  of  the 
earth  overspread  with  Christians  without  so  much  as  one 
bishop,  nor  ever  a  countiy  whereui  bishops  were  more 
wanted."!  "We  have  several  countries,  islands,  and 
provinces,  which  have  hardly  an  orthodox  minister  among 
them,  which  might  have  been  supplied,  had  we  been  so 
happy  as  to  see  a  bishop  apud  Americanos^  "Above all 
things,  we  need  a  bishop  for  the  confirming  the  baptised,  and 
giving  orders  to  such  as  are  willing  and  well  qualified  to 
receive  them ;  there  being  a  considerable  number  of  actual 
preachers  and  others,  of  New  England  education,  well  dis- 
posed to  serve  in  the  ministry. "$   "  We  have  been  deprived 

»  S.  P.  G.  MS3.        f  Fulhamsiss.        %  1705.  S.  P.  G.  mss. 


114  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

of  the  advantages  that  might  have  been  received  of  some 
Presbyterian  and  Independent  ministers  that  formerly  were, 
and  of  others  that  are  still,  willing  to  conform  and  receive 
the  holy  character,  for  want  of  a  bishop  to  give  it."  "  Last 
year*  there  went  out,  bachelors  of  arts,  near  twenty  young 
men  from  the  college,  all  or  most  of  whom  would  gladly 
have  accepted  episcopal  ordination,  if  we  had  been  so 
happy  as  to  have  had  a  bishop  of  America,  from  whom 
they  might  have  received  it ;  but  being  discouraged  at  the 
trouble  and  charge  of  coming  to  England,  they  accepted  of 
authorities  from  the  dissenting  ministers,  and  are  all  dis- 
persed in  that  way." 

The  pressing  sense  of  these  necessities  forced  them  often 
to  a  passionate  earnestness  of  entreaty.  "  We  pray  God," 
they  write, t  "  to  inspire  the  government  with  compassion 
towards  this  country,  to  the  taking  away  our  reproach 
amongst  the  adversaries  of  our  Church."  "  We  speak  the 
wish  of  great  multitudes  of  souls  in  this  land,  and  the  ne- 
cessities of  a  vast  many  more  who  perish  for  lack  of  super- 
vision." In  "  the  miserable  case  of  the  country  from  this 
want,"  they  "  would  be  glad  that  a  true  episcopate  might 
obtain  amongst  them  in  any  shape."  Thus  one  of  them 
suggests  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  "  whether  one  or  other 
of  the  yonngest  and  ablest  of  the  bishops  of  the  smaller 
dioceses  might  not  be  disposed  to  have  a  commission  to 
visit  these  parts  of  the  world,  and  spend  a  year  or  two 
among  us  ;  and  so  from  time  to  time,  once  in  about  seven 
years,  till  a  settlement  could  be  had,  duty  being  in  the 
mean  time  done  for  the  absent  bishop  by  one  of  the  neigh- 
boring bishops.  This  might  ansAver  many  good  ends,  if 
nothing  else  could  be  done."  "  The  presence  and  assist- 
ance of  a  bishop  is  most  needful  ;  the  baptised  want  to  be 
confirmed  ;  his  presence  is  necessary  in  the  councils  of 
these  provinces,  to  prevent  the  inconveniences  which  the 
Cnurch  labors  under  by  the  influence  wdiich  seditious 
men's  councils  have  upon  the  public  administration,  and 
the  opposition  which  they  make  to  the  good   inclinations 

*  Rev.  G.  Thorns,  1705:  S,PG.  mss. 
f  From  New-Haven,  1724  :  Fulham  mss. 


CLERGY    OF    SPANISH    a:\IERICA  115 

of  well-affected  persons.  He  is  wanted  not  only  to  govern 
and  direct  us,  but  to  cover  us  from  the  malignant  effects 
of  those  misrepreseutatious  that  have  been  made  by  some 
persons."*  "  We  have  great  need  of  a  bishop  here,  to 
visit  all  the  Churches,  to  ordain  some,  to  confirm  others, 
and  bless  all."t 

Letters  and  memorials  from  the  colonies  supply,  for  a 
whole  century,  a  comiected  chain  of  such  expostulations  ; 
yet  still  the  mother  country  was  deaf  to  their  entreaties. 
At  home  they  were  re-echoed  from  many  quarters.  Suc- 
ceeding archbishops  pressed  them  on  successive  adminis- 
trations ;  and  the  Society  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, during  almost  every  year,  made  some  eflbrt  in  the 
same  cause.  The  records  of  these  memorials  show  how 
earnestly  and  with  what  strength  of  argument  it  pressed 
tlois  great  cause  upon  the  notice  of  the  government. 

It  may  well  seem  strange  that  these  prayers  were  never 
granted.  England  stood  alone  in  not  establishing  her 
Church  in  all  its  perfectness  amongst  her  colonies.  In 
Spanish  America,  wliilst  the  crown  had  carefully  excluded 
the  power  of  the  pope,  securing  to  itself  the  appointment 
to  aU  benefices,  and  not  allowing  any  papal  bull  to  be 
published  which  had  not  first  been  sanctioned  by  the  royal 
council  of  the  Indies,  the  greatest  care  was  taken  to  set 
up  amongst  the  colonists  that  form  of  faith  and  worship 
which,  debased  as  it  was,  the  mother  country  believed  to 
be  alone  consistent  with  the  truth.  Thus  a  monastery  had 
been  established  in  New  Spain  within  five  yeai's  from  its 
first  settlement.  And  m  IGiO,  about  120  years  later, 
Davila  estimates  tlie  staQ'of  the  Spanish  Church  in  Ame- 
rica to  have  been — "'  1  patriarch,  G  archbishops,  32  bisliops, 
316  prebends,  2  abbotts,  5  royal  chaplains,  840  convents." 
Besides  these,  there  were  a  vast  number  of  inferior  clergy, 
secular  as  well  as  regulars,  who  were  arranged  in  a  three- 
fold division  ;  "  curas,"  or  parish  priests,  amongst  the  emi- 
grants from  Spain,  and  their  descendants  :  "  doctrineros," 
to  whom  were  entrusted  the  Indians  who  had  submitted 
to  the  rule  of  Spain  ;  whilst  for  the  fiercer  tribes,  to  whom 

*  Nov.  1705:  S.  P.  G.  mss.  f  From  New- York,  1702. 


116  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  civil  arm  had  not  yet  reached,  there  were  bands  of 
"  missioneros,"  who  labored  to  reduce  their  untamed  spirits 
to  the  faith. 

In  these  institutions,  as  Bishop  Berkeley  endeavored  to 
enforce  upon  the  nation,  was  a  strong  condemnation  of 
the  supineness  of  a  people  who  held  a  purer  faith,  and  did 
not  in  like  manner  exert  themselves  to  spread  it.  For 
whatever  was  deemed  needful  for  the  Church's  strength 
at  home,  that,  as  a  Christian  people,  we  are  manifestly 
bound  to  give  her  in  our  colonies,  where,  upon  the  out- 
skirts and  borders  of  Christendom,  she  needed  arms  for 
every  service^  and  defence  from  every  enemy.  Yet,  even 
from  their  earliest  establishment,  circiimstances  had  led 
to  this  neglect.  The  first  episcopal  colonies  were  settled 
by  private  adventurers  ;  their  beginnings  were  feeble  and 
uncertain  ;  they  proceeded  on  no  general  and  matured 
plan,  and  their  continued  existence  M'as  long  doubtful. 
They  had  no  sooner  gained  some  strength  than  the  king 
resumed  the  charter  he  had  given,  by  which  they  Vv'ere 
removed  from  the  control  of  those  who  valued  their  reli- 
gious interests,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  courtiers  of 
James  I.,  who  were  then  under  Spanish  influence,  and 
therefore  hostile  to  the  extension  of  the  English  Church. 
Then  followed  the  troubles  of  Kuig  Charles's  reign,  and  the 
triumph  of  Dissenters  in  the  great  rebellion,  ending  in  the 
overthrow  of  throne  and  altar,  both  at  home  and  in  our 
colonies.  After  the  restoration,  the  subject  was  not  wholly 
overlooked.  Lord  Clarendon  perceived  its  importance, 
and  prevailed  on  Charles  II.  to  appoint  a  Bishop  of  Vir- 
ginia, with  a  general  charge  over  the  other  provinces.* 
Dr.  Alexander  Murray,  a  sharer  in  the  royal  exile,  was 
selected  for  the  office  ;  and  a  patent  was  made  out  for 
his  appointment  by  Sir  Orlando  Bridgeman,  who  was  lord 
keeper  from  1667  to  1672.  But  a  change  of  ministers 
cut  short  the  scheme. f     The   king,  a  concealed   papist, 

*  McVickar's  Life  of  Hobart,  pp.  177-218. 

t  Archbishop  Seeker  says,  in  Jiis  letter  to  Horace  Walpole,  it  fell 
to  the  ground  because  the  tax  to  support  it  "was  to  be  laid  on  the 
cu.stonis.  Dr.  Jonathan  Boucher  states  tliat  it  was  tlirough  the 
King's  death.     American  Revolution,  p.  92. 


CHARLES    THE   SECOND.'  117 

could  have  had  no  warm  afiection  for  it  ;  and  the  reins  of 
government  which  Clarendon  relinqnished  fell  into  far 
dilierent  hands. 

His  successors  set  themselves  afrainst  all  measures 
planned  by  him,  and  to  this  the  Virginian  bishoprick  was 
not  likely  to  form  an  exception ;  since  of  the  five  men  who 
now  absolutely  ruled  the  state,  two  were  infidels,  two  pa- 
pists, and  the  fiith  a  Presbyterian.  =* 

Duruig  the  hfe  of  Charles,  therefore,  the  scheme  was 
dropped  ;  and  James  II.  certainly  would  not  resume  it. 
Then  came  the  troubles  of  the  revolution  and  the  reign  of 
William  III.,  when  the  divisions  of  the  Church  at  home, 
as  well  as  the  temper  of  those  to  whom  the  conduct  of 
aflairs  was  entrusted,  prevented  further  steps  being  taken 
in  the  matter.  Other  difficulties  also  had  now  arisen. 
Though  petitions  were  repeatedly  sent,  both  from  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  the  American  episcopal  community, 
entreating  this  Church  and  nation  to  grant  them  the 
episcopate,  yet  amongst  their  fellow-countrymen  were 
found  some  objecting  to  their  reasonable  prayer.  Many 
of  the  colonies  had,  as  Ave  have  seen,  been  founded  by 
dissenters  ;  and  now  they  were  mulLiplied  in  numbers, 
and  grown  into  new  sects  of  every  name  and  form.  The 
sending  out  of  bishops  would  have  been  distasteful  to 
them,  and  kindled  the  wrath  of  the  upholders  of  dissent 
at  home,  whom  Wilham  III.  most  sedidously  courted. 
Our  early  neglect  had  made  the  line  of  present  duty  more 
difficult  than  ever  ;  so  that  the  scheme  was  was  for  the 
time  wholly  laid  aside. 

(iueen  Anne's  accession  promised  better  things ;  and 
in  her  reign  the  project  of  an  American  episcopate  was 
heartily  resumed. 

The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  still  led  the 
way  in  the  efibrts  which  were  made.  As  early  as  the 
year  1712,  a  committee  was  appointed  "  to  consider  of 
proper  places  for  the  residence,  of  the  revenues,  and  me- 

*  The  first  letters  of  vehose  names  formed  the  word  Cabal.  Lords 
Clitford  and  Arlinirton  were  papists,  the  Duke  of  Buckinghiim  avow- 
edly an  atheist,  Sir  W.  Ashley  (two  years  afterwanls  Lord  IShaftes- 
bury)  a  deist,  and  Lord  Lauderdale  a  presbyterian. 


118  AMERICAN    CHimCH. 

thods  of  procuring  bishops  and  bishoprics  in  America." 
This  committee  sat  from  time  to  time ;  and  agi'eeing  that 
it  was  "a  matter  upon  which  the  interests  of  rehgion, 
and  the  success  of  the  designs  of  the  society,  do  greatly  de- 
pend,"* they  moved  both  the  body  at  large,  and  the 
archbishops  and  bishops  especially,  to  proceed  in  it  with 
vigor.  Several  times  tliey  laid  before  the  crown  their  earn- 
est representations  of  the  great  importance  of  the  subject. 

Nor  were  they  without  the  promise  of  immediate 
fruit,  dueen  Anne  was  truly  minded  to  be  a  nursing 
mother  to  the  Church.  Preparations  Avere  made  lor 
founding  at  once  four  bishoprics — two  for  the  islands,  and 
two  for  the  contment  of  America.  The  society!  prepared 
special  subscription-rolls,  towards  raising  a  sum  for  the 
endowment  oi"  the  sees  ;  and  from  many  quarters  they 
received  munificent  bequests  for  this  especial  purpose. 
They  applied  to  the  Glueen  for  the  confiscated  lands  which 
had  belonged  to  the  popish  clergy  within  the  island  of  St. 
Kitt's,  and  received  a  most  gracious  answer  in  reply  ;  and 
in  1712  they  purchased  Burlington  House,  within  New 
Jersey,  as  the  palace  of  one  of  the  future  bishops. 

But  just  when  all  seemed  most  certainly  to  promise 
the  success  for  which  they  had  so  long  been  waiting,  the 
death  of  the  queen  again  frustrated  their  hopes.  With 
the  accession  of  King  George  the  First,  and  the  change  of 
the  government,  a  blight  fell  upon  the  hopes  of  the  friends 
of  the  colonial  Church.  Still  the  venerable  society  made 
its  voice  of  remonstrance  heard.  They  represented  to  the 
new  monarch  that,  "  since  the  time  of  their  incorporation, 
in  the  late  reign,  they  had  used  their  best  endeavors  to 
answer  the  end  of  their  institution,  by  sending  over,  at 
their  very  great  expense,  ministers  for  the  more  regular  ad- 
ministration of  God's  holy  word  and  sacraments,  together 
with  schoolmasters,  pious  and  useful  books,  to  the  planta- 
tions and  colonies  in  America."  They  recited  their  for- 
mer arguments  as  to  the  great  need  of  establishmg  colo- 
nial bishoprics,  and  vidtli  them  the  favorable  answer  they 

*  Manuscript  papers  of  the  Society  for  tlie  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel. 

f  February  21,  1718.     MS.  proceedings. 


DR.    BERKELEY.  119 

had  met  with  from  the  Glueen.  They  entreated  the  King 
to  carry  out  her  unfulfilled  intentions,  and  found  four  bi- 
shoprics, "  that  is  to  say,  two  for  the  care  and  superin- 
tendency  of  the  islands,  and  as  many  for  the  continent." 

These  entreaties  and  remonstrances  were  not  confined 
to  this  society.  Some  were  always  Ibimd  who  were  ready 
to  urge  this  duty  on  the  nation.  Foremost  amongst  these 
stands  Bishop  Berkeley,  whose  noble  devotion  to  this  great 
cause  deserves  more  than  a  mere  passing  notice.  Posses- 
sed of  a  most  subtle  understanding,  he  had  already  ac- 
quired fame  and  eminence,  when  the  spiritual  destitution 
of  America  attracted  his  attention.  A  fniished  and  trav- 
elled scholar ;  the  friend  of  Steele,  and  Swift,  and  Pope  ; 
and  ui  possession  of  the  deanery  of  Derry, — he  was  willing 
to  renounce  all,  in  order  to  redress  this  pressing  evil. 
"There  is  a  gentleman  of  this  kingdom,"  writes  Dr. 
Swift  to  the  Lord-Lieutenant  in  1724,  "  who  is  just  gone 
to  England  ;  it  is  Dr.  George  Berkeley,  dean  of  Derry,  the 

best  preferaient  amongst  us He   is   an  absolute 

philosopher  with  regard  to  money,  titles  and  power  ;  and 
ibr  three  years  past  hath  been  struck  with  a  notion  of 
founding  an  university  at  Bermuda  by  a  charter  from  the 
crown.  He  hath  seduced  several  of  the  hopefullest  young 
clergymen  and  others  here,  many  of  them  well  provided 
for,  and  all  of  them  in  the  fairest  way  of  preferment ;  but 
in  England  his  conquests  are  greater,  and  I  doubt  will 
spread  very  far  this  wmter.  He  shewed  me  a  little 
tract  which  he  designs  to  pubhsh ;  and  there  your  excel- 
lency will  see  his  whole  scheme  of  a  life  academico-pliilo- 
sophical,  of  a  college  founded  for  Indian  scholars  and 
missionaries,  where  he  most  exorbitantly  proposeth  a  whole 
hundred  a  year  for  himself,  foi-ty  pounds  for  a  fellow,  and 
ten  for  a  student.  His  heart  wiU  break  if  his  deanery  be 
not  taken  from  him,  and  left  to  your  excellencys  disposal. 
I  discourage  him  by  the  coldness  of  courts  and  ministers, 
who  will  interpret  all  this  as  impossible  and  a  vision  ;  but 
nothing  will  do.  And  therefore  I  humbly  entreat  your 
excellency  either  to  use  such  persuasions  as  will  keep  one 
of  the  first  men  in  tliis  kingdom  for  learning  and  virtue 
quiet  at  home,  or  assist  him  by  your  credit  to  compass  his 


120  AMERICAN   CHUnCH. 

romantic  design,  which,  however,  is  very  noble  and  gene- 
rous, and  directly  proper  for  a  great  person  of  your  excel- 
lent education  to  encourage."  * 

On  this  errand  Berkeley  went  to  London,  and  havuig 
found  access  by  a  private  channel  to  George  I.,  he  so  far 
interested  hlin  iu  the  project,  that  the  king  granted  a 
charter  for  the  new  foundation,  and  commanded  iSir  Robert 
AYalpole  to  mtroduce  and  conduct  through  the  House  of 
Commons  an  address  for  the  endowment  of  the  college 
with  £20,000.  After  six  weeks'  struggle  against  "  an 
earnest  opposition,  from  difi'erent  mterests  and  motives, "t 
the  address  was  "carried  by  an  extraordinary  majority, 
none  having  the  confidence  to  speak  against  it,  and  but  two 
erivinof  their  negatives  in  a  low  voice,  as  if  ashamed  of  it." 
But  now,  when  it  might  have  seemed  that  "  all  difficul- 
ties were  over,"  they  Avere  little  more  than  beginning, 
"much  opposition  being  raised,  and  that  by  very  great 
men,  to  the  design."  Sir  Robert  Walpole  was  averse  to 
the  whole  measure  ;  and  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  grant 
of  the  charter,  it  was  "with  much  dithculty,  and  the  pe- 
culiar blessing  of  God,  that  it  was  resolved  to  go  on  witli 
the  grant,  in  spite  of  the  strong  opposition  in  the  cabuiet 
council."  But  Berkeley's  resolution  was  equal  to  every 
obstacle  ;  though  he  conrplains  of  having  "  to  do  with  very 
busy  people  at  a  very  busy  time,"  he  was,  by  May  1727, 
"  very  near  concluding  the  crown-grant  to  the  college, 
having  got  over  all  difficulties  and  obstructions,  which  were 
not  a  few."  At  this  moment,  and  before  the  broad  seal 
was  attached  to  the  grant,  the  king  died  ;$  and  he  had  all 
to  begin  again. 

With  untired  energy  he  resumed  his  labors,  and  "con- 
trary to  the  expectations  of  his  friends,"  so  well  succeeded, 
that  by  September,  1728,  he  was  able  to  set  sail  with  a 
new-married  wife  for  the  land  of  Ms  choice.  He  went  first 
to  Rhode  Island,  where  he  intended  to  lay  in  some  neces- 
sary stock  for  the  improvement  of  his  proposed  college 
farms  in  the  Bermudas.     Here  he  awaited  the  payment  of 

*  Life  of  Bishop  Berkeley,  pp.  17,  18. 

f  Letters  of  Bishop  Berkeley.  X  June  1121. 


BERKELEY    IN    RHODE    ISLAND.  121 

the  20,OOOZ.  endowment  of  his  college.  But  a  secret  influ- 
ence at  home  was  thwarting-  his  efforts.  His  friends  in 
vain  importuned  the  minister  on  his  behalf,  and  equally 
fruitless  were  liis  own  earnest  representations.  The  pro- 
mised grant  was  diverted  to  other  objects.  With  the  vigor 
of  a  healthy  mind,  he  was  laboring  in  his  sacred  calling 
amongst  the  inhabitants  of  Rhode  Island,  making  provision 
for  his  future  college,  and  serving  God  with  thankfuhress 
for  the  blessings  he  possessed.  "  I  live  here,"  he  says, 
"upon  land  that  I  have  purchased,  and  in  a  farm-house 
that  I  have  built  in  this  island  ;  it  is  fit  for  cows  and  sheep, 
and  may  be  of  good  use  in  supplying  our  college  at  Ber- 
muda. Amongst  my  delays  and  disappointments,  I  thank 
God  I  have  two  domestic  comforts,  my  Avife  and  my  little 
son;  he  is  a  great  joy  to  us:  we  are  such  fools  as  to  think 
him  the  most  perfect  thing  in  its  kind  that  we  ever  saw." 
For  three  years  he  patiently  awaited  the  means  of  accom- 
plishing his  purpose ;  until  Bishop  Gibson  extracted  from 
Sir  Robert  Walpole  a  reply,  which  brought  him  home.  "  If," 
said  he,  "  you  put  this  question  to  me  as  a  minister,  I  must 
assure  you  that  the  money  shall  most  undoubtedly  be  paid 
as  soon  as  suits  the  public  convenience  ;  but  if  you  ask  me 
as  a  friend,  whether  Dr.  Berkeley  should  continue  in  Ame- 
rica, expecting  the  payment  of  20,000/.,  I  advise  him  by 
all  means  to  return  home  to  Europe,  and  to  give  up  his 
present  expectations."* 

Thus  was  this  noble  project,  and  the  labor  of  seven 
years  of  such  a  life,  absolutely  thwarted.  One  consequence 
alone  remained.  The  library  intended  for  liis  college  was 
left  by  Berkeley  at  Rhode  Island,  and  sowed  ii^^  after-years 
the  seed  of  truth  amongst  that  people.  lie  himself  returned 
to  England;  and  until  his  death, in  1753,  repeatedly  endea- 
vored to  arouse  his  country  to  the  due  discharge  of  its  duty 
to  the  western  colonies. 

Other  great  men  repeated  his  warnings.  Bishops  But- 
ler,t  Sherlock,  and  Gibson,  enforced  in  turn  our  clear 
obligations  in  this  matter.  Thus  we  find,  in  1738,  the 
Bisliop  of  London  "  laboring  much,  but   in  vain,  with  the 

*  Chandler's  Life  of  Johnson,  pp  53,  54. 
t  See  Apthorpe's  Review  of  Mavhew's  Remai'ks,  p.  55. 
6 


122  AMEUICAN    CircRCH. 

court  and  tlie  ministry,  and  endeavoring  to  induce  the 
archbisliop,  who  had  credit  with  both,  to  join  him  in  try- 
ing what  could  be  done  to  get  a  bisliop  sent  into  the  plan- 
tations;''* and  in  the  same  year  there  was  some  hope  that 
the  bishop  would  be  "  appointed  archbishop  of  the  New 
World,  the  continent  of  America,  and  the  adjacent  islands, 
and  invested  with  authority  and  a  fullness  of  power  to  send 
bishops  among  them." 

But  the  fears  and  the  subtleties  of  worldly-wise  politi- 
cians defeated  all  these  promising  appearances.  Sir  Robert 
Walpole's  government  was  dead  to  all  appeals  founded 
upon  moral  and  religious  principles.  The  minister  con- 
sented willingly  to  no  proposal  which  could  increase  the 
strength  of  the  Church  at  home  ;  and  whilst  the  sectarian 
opponents  of  the  measure  had  put  forward  their  objections 
in  terms  which  could  not  be  mistaken,  there  was  no  counter 
power  to  weigh  against  the  irreligious  bias  of  the  adminis- 
tration. The  nation  knew  too  little  of  Church  principles 
to  feel  much  interest  in  the  subject ;  while  the  Church 
herself  languished  beneath  the  benumbing  influence  of 
Hoadley,  and  others  of  his  school.  Still,  the  episcopalians 
in  America  continued  their  most  reasonable  prayer.  From 
all  parts  of  the  continent  memorials  were  still  sent  home, 
though  the  greatest  earnestness  upon  the  subject  was  mani- 
fested in  the  northern  colonies,  where,  as  we  have  seen, 
there  was,  from  many  causes,  most  of  the  life  and  vigor  of 
religion. 

One  of  these  addresses  touched  on  grounds  which  might 
have  moved  even  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  The  bishops,  who 
had  been  deprived  of  their  temporalities  for  refusing  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  William  III.,  did  not  thereby  lose 
their  spiritual  character.  They  had  still,  therelbre,  as  of 
old,  the  power  of  conferring  holy  orders,  and  of  consecrat- 
ing other  bi.shops  by  lhe  layhig  on  of  hands,  although  their 
doing  so  was  plainly  "irregular  and  schismatical."t  This 
step  unhappily  they  took,  at  the  imminent  risk  of  entailing 
a  fearful  schism  on  the  English  Church.  Having  founded 
a  counter  episcopate  at  home,  they  could  feel  little  scruple 

*  Fulhara  mss.  f  Perceval's  Apology,  p.  244. 


NON-JUraNG    BISHOPS.  123 

in  granting  to  America  that  boon  which  England  had  so 
long  and  so  unwarrantably  withheld  from  her.  It  was 
therefore  natural  that  some  of  the  American  clergy  should 
look  to  them  for  succor,  and  that  they  should  lend  a  favor- 
able ear  to  their  requests.  Accordmgly,  Dr.  Welton,  and 
Mr.  Talbot,  the  oldest  missionary  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  solicited  and  received  consecra- 
tion from  the  non-juring  bishops:  Dr.  Welton  was  conse- 
crated by  Dr.  Ralph  Taylor  ui  1722,  Mr.  Talbot  shortly 
afterwards  by  Drs.  Taylor  and  Welton.*  Political  disquali- 
fications made  them  unable  to  perform  publicly  any  epis- 
copal acts  ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  privately 
administered  the  rite  of  confirmation,  and,  in  some  cases  at 
least,  ordained  clergy.  One  such  instance,  traditionally 
recorded,!  shows  in  an  interesting  manner  what  might 
have  been  done  by  resident  bishops  towards  occupying  the 
land  with  a  native  clergy,  and  so  healing  the  divisions  of 
the  West. 

A  Congregationalist  teacher  in  New-England,  shortly 
before  this  time,  began  to  doubt  the  lawfulness  of  his  ap- 
pointment to  the  ministry.  His  doubts  and  fears  were 
often  hinted,  and  became  well  known  amongst  his  people. 
About  the  time  of  Dr.  Welton's  visit  he  left  home  for  a  few 
weeks,  giving  no  intimation  of  the  object  or  direction  of  his 
journey.  On  his  return  he  resumed  his  pastoral  charge, 
and  now  declared  himself  entirely  contented  with  his  min- 
isterial commission.  Whence  this  contentment  sprang  he 
never  expressly  stated  ;  but  there  were  reasons  for  the  uni- 
versal belief  that  he  had  received  at  Dr.  Welton's  hands 
the  gift  of  ordination. 

These  Episcopal  acts  were  performed  with  the  utmost 
secrecy ;  but  they  were  soon  whispered  abroad,  and  excited 
observation.  Accounts  of  them  were  transmitted  to  head- 
quarters ;  and  good  men,  Avho  distrusted  non-juring  loyalty, 
hoped  to  extort  from  the  fears  of  the  government  what 
they  could  not  obtain  from  higher  motives.  "  We  shall  be 
very  unhappy,"  they  wnrote  home,|  "  if  any  measures  are 

*  Perceval's  Apology,  p.  246.  f  Hawk's  Maryland,  p.  185. 

J  Fulhaiu  Mss. 


124  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

taken  to  propagate  disaffection  among  us.  Now,  though 
none  of  the  clergy  here  have  ever  expi'essed  the  least  dis- 
affection to  King  George's  person  or  government,  but  al- 
ways the  contrary,  yet  it  is  certain  that  the  non-jui'ors  have 
sent  over  two  bishops  into  America,  and  one  ot"  them  has 
travelled  through  the  country  upon  a  design  to  promote  that 
cause.  I  had  accidentally  a  little  acquaintance  with  him  ; 
and  though  I  had  considered  the  matter  too  well  to  be 
wrought  upon  by  them,  yet  many  will  be  in  great  danger 
of  being  led  aside  ;  for  their  powers  of  insinuation  are  very 
considerable.  Your  lordship  sees  from  hence  how  misera- 
ble the  case  of  this  country  is,  for  want  of  bishops  to  preserve 
the  flock  of  Christ  from  wandering  out  of  one  schism  into 
another,  and  withal  into  disaffection  to  the  king." 

To  the  same  effect  speaks  an  address  of  the  body  of  the 
clergy  maintained  by  the  Gospel-Propagation  Society,  set- 
ting forth  "  the  many  ill  consequences  that  may  follow 
from  Dr.  Welton's  coming  over,  who  is  reported  to  have 
privately  received  the  Episcopal  character  in  England,  by 
corrupting  the  affections  of  the  people  of  that  country  to 
our  most  excellent  constitution  and  the  person  of  his  most 
sacred  majesty,"  and  representing  also  "  the  great  use  and 
benefit  of  an  orthodox  and  legal  bishop  residing  among 
them."* 

But  not  even  political  danger  could  extort  this  boon. 
These  appeals  oidy  led  to  Dr.  Welton's  recall  on  his  alle- 
giance,! and  to  the  dismissal  of  the  venerable  Talbot  from 
his  former  offiee. 

Still  the  question  was  not  left  to  sleep  ;  and  even  in 
the  highest  places  of  the  Church  at  home  a  more  lively 
zeal  for  its  accomplishment  was  soon  evinced.  About  the 
year  17G4  a  pamphlet  was  published  on  the  subject  in 
New-England,  by  the  Rev.  E.  Aptliorpe,  a  missionary  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  which  called  forth  an  acrimo- 
nious rejoinder  from  a  Congregational  minister  at  Boston, 
of  the  name  of  Mayhew.  In  this,  amongst  other  charges 
against  the  society  in  whose  employment  Apthorpe  was, 

*  S.  P.  G.  Mss. 

f  He  returned  to  Europe,  and  died  in  1726. 


\ 


ARCHBISHOP    SECKER.  125 

he  specially  attacked  its  aim  and  object  in  desiring  Ame- 
rican bishops. 

This  pamphlet  was  answered  by  no  less  a  man  than 
Archbishop  Seclver.  His  attention  had  long:  since  been 
drawn  to  the  question  ;*  and,  in  a  letter  to  Horace  Wal- 
pole,  Avritten  in  January  1750,  and  published,  by  his  order, 
after  his  decease,  he  had  entered  fully  into  the  whole  case. 
This  letter  was  an  answer  to  objections  against  the  institu- 
tion of  an  American  Episcopate,  urged,  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Sherlock,  bishop  of  London,  by  Robert  liord  Walpole, 
brother  of  the  late  prime  minister.  Lord  Walpole  shared 
his  brother's  apprehension  of  increasing  the  power  of  the 
Church,  and  into  this  fear  all  his  objections  resolve  them- 
selves. These  the  archbishop  fully  met,  and  showed,  as 
he  does  again  in  his  reply  to  Dr.  Mayhew's  angry  charges, 
how  clearly  due  was  such  an  institution  to  our  Episcopa- 
han  brethren.  "  The  Church  of  England,"  he  maintained, 
"  is  in  its  constitution  Episcopal.  It  is  in  some  of  the  plan- 
tations confessedly  the  established  Church  ;  in  the  rest  are 

many  congregations  adhering  to  it All  members  of 

every  Church  are,  according  to  the  principles  of  liberty, 
entitled  to  every  part  of  what  they  conceive  to  be  the 
benefits  of  it  entire  and  complete,  so  far  as  consists  with 
the  welfare  of  civil  government.  Yet  the  members  of  our 
Churcli  in  America  do  not  thus  enjoy  its  benefits,  having 
no  Protestant  bishop  within  three  thousand  miles  of  them 
— a  case  which  never  had  its  parallel  before  in  the  Chris- 
tian world.  Therefore  it  is  desired  that  two  or  more 
bishops  may  be  appointed  for  them  ....  to  have  no  concern 
in  the  least  with  any  persons  who  do  not  profess  themselves 
to  be  of  the  Chundi  of  England  ;  but  to  ordain  ministers 
for  such  as  do,  to  confirm  their  children,  when  brought  to 
them  at  a  fit  age  for  that  purpose,  and  take  oversight  of 
the  Episcopal  clergy.  .  .  .  Neither  is  it,  nor  ever  was,  in- 

*  In  1745  he  writes  from  London  to  Dr.  Johnson:  "Everything? 
looks  verv  discouraging  here;  ecclesiastical,  civil,  domestic,  and 
foreign.     God   avert   from   us  the  judgments  we   have   deserved. 

We  have  been  greatly  blameable,  amongst  many  other  things, 

towards  you,  particularly  in  giving  you  no  -bishops.     Life  of  Dr. 
Johnson,  p.  75. 


126  '  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

tended  to  fix  one  in  jNTew-Eng-land  ;  but  Episcopal  colonies 
have  always  been  proposed."* 

Such  a  plea  seemed  scarcely  to  admit  of  answer  from 
the  zealous  advocates  of  religious  toleration  ;  but  Dr. 
Mayhew  still  found  grounds  for  opposition,  and  for  the 
part  he  had  taken  in  this  matter  the  archbishop  was  ma- 
ligned for  years,  as  an  overbearing  violator  of  the  rights 
of  conscience. 

Though  no  immediate  steps  were  taken  in  the  matter, 
the  archbishop  did  not  despair  of  its  accomplishment. 
"  Lord  Halifax,"  he  says  (in  1671),  "  is  very  earnest  for 
bishops  in  America.  I  hope  we  may  have  a  chance  to 
succeed  in  that  great  point,  when  it  shall  please  God  to 
bless  us  with  a  peace."!  Nor  was  the  cause  let  to  drop 
amongst  the  northern  colonists.  Dr.  Chandler  of  New 
Jersey,  soon  came  forward  as  its  advocate,  and  he  ex- 
pressed the  views  of  all  the  northern  clergy.  Those  of 
New- York,  New  Jeresy,  and  Connecticut,  formed  them- 
selves into  a  imion,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Voluntary  Con- 
vention," with  a  view  to  obtaining  their  desire.  In  May, 
1771,  the  Connecticut  clergy  addressed  another  earnest 
appeal  upon  the  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  London.  "  View- 
ing," they  began,  "  the  distressed  and  truly  pitiable  state 
of  the  Church  of  England  in  America,  being  destitute  of 
resident  bishops,  we  beg  leave  to  renew  our  addresses  in 
behalf  of  it.  We  apprehend  it  a  matter  of  great  impor- 
tance, considered  in  every  view,  that  the   Church  shoyld 

be  supported  in  America But  this  Church  cannot 

be  supported  long  in  such  a  country  as  this,  where  it  has 
so  many  and  potent  enemies  thirsting  after  universal  domin- 
ion, and  so  many  difficulties  to  surmount,  without  an  episco- 
pate, which  in  any  country  is  essential  at  least  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  Church.  Mu.st  it  not,  then,  be  surprising  and 
really  unaccountable  that  this  Church  should  be  denied 
the  episcopate  she*  asks,  which  is  so  necessary  to  her  well- 
being,  and  so  harmless,  that  her  bitterest  enemies  acknow- 
ledge it  can  injure  none  ?     While  Roman  Catholics  in  one 

*  Answer  to  Dr.  Mayhew's  Observations,  &c., — Archbishop  Seek- 
er's Works,  vol.  ix.  p.  324. 

f  Letter  of  Abp.  Seeker, — Dr  Johnson's  Life,  p.  182. 


CLERGY    OF    CONNECTICUT.  127 

of  his  Majesty's  colonies  are  allowed  a  bishop,  and  the 
Moravians  arc  indulged  the  same  faA'^or  in  another  ;  nay, 
and  every  blazing  enthusiast  throughout  the  British  em- 
pire is  tolerated  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  every  peculiarity 
of  his  sect  ;  what  have  the  sons  of  the  Church  in  America 
done,  that  they  are  treated  with  such  neglect,  and  are 
overlooked  by  government  ?  Must  not  such  a  disregard 
of  the  Chui-ch  here  be  a  great  discouragement  to  her  sons  ? 
Will  it  not  prevent  the  growth  of  the  Church,  and  there- 
by operate  to  the  disadvantage  of  religion  and  loyalty  ?  . 
.  .  We  believe  episcopacy  to  be  of  divine  origin  ;  and 
judge  an  American  episcopate  to  be  essential  to  the  well- 
being  of  religion  here."* 

The  efforts  of  the  clergy  of  Comiecticiit  were  not  con- 
fined to  sending  such  addresses  to  the  powers  at  home. 
Their  first  endeavor  was  to  secure  the  concurrent  voice  of 
episcopal  America  ;  and  for  this  cud  they  sent  deputies! 
throughout  the  other  states.  Had  such  vigorous  steps  been, 
taken  earUer,  there  can  be  little  doubt  what  would  have 
been  their  issue.  They  would  haA^e  called  forth  from  all 
parts  of  that  continent  one  general  voice,  which  could  not 
have  been  slighted  here.  But  that  season  was  gone  by  ; 
there  was  now  in  many  districts  a  clear  indisposition  to  join 
in  the  attempt.  Of  this  the  convention  of  Comiecticut 
avowed  themselves  "  sadly  sensible  ;  some  of  the  principal 
colonies  are  not  desirous  of  bishops  ;  and  there  are  some 
persons  of  loose  principles, — nay,  some  even  of  the  clergy 
of  those  colonies  where  the  Church  is  established, — who,  in- 
sensible of  their  miserable  condition,  are  rather  averse  to 
them.  But  this  is  so  far  from  being  a  reason  against  it,  that 
it  is  the  strongest  reason  for  sending  them  bishops  ;  because 
they  never  having  had  any  ecclesiastical  government  or  or- 
der (which  ought  indeed  to  have  obtained  above  seventy 
years  ago),  the  cause  of  religion,  for  want  of  it,  is  sunk  and 
sinking  to  the  lowest  ebb  ;  while  some  of  the  clerg)',  as  we 

*  Fulham  mss. 

f  The  Rev.  Dr.  Cooper,  president  of  King's  College,  New- York, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'Kean,  missiouary  at  Amboy,  New  Jersey,  were 
sent  to  the  soutliern  part  of  the  continent.  Seabury  mss., — apud 
Dr.  Hawks'  Virginia,  p.  126. 


128  AMERICAN    CHUECH, 

are  credibly  informed  (but  are  grieved  to  say  it),  do  much 
neglect  their  duty  ;  and  some  of  them  on  the  continent, 
and  especially  in  the  islands,  arc  some  of  the  worst  of 
men  :  and  we  fear  there  are  but  too  many  that  consider 
their  sacred  office  in  no  other  light  than  as  a  trade  or 
means  of  getting  a  livelihood  ;  and  many  of  the  laity,  of 
course,  consider  it  only  as  a  mere  craft  ;  and  deplorable  ig- 
norance, infidelity,  and  vice  greatly  obtain  ;  so  that  unless 
ecclesiastical  govenmient  can  so  far  take  place  as  that  the 
clergy  may  be  obliged  to  do  their  duty,  the  very  appearance 
of  the  Church  Avill  in  time  be  lost,  and  all  kinds  of  sectaries 
will  soon  prevail,  who  are  indefatigable  in  making  their 
best  advantage  of  such  a  sad  condition  of  things.  It  is 
therefore,  we  humbly  conceive,  not  only  highly  reasonable, 
hut  absolutely  necessary,  that  bishops  be  sent,  at  least  to 
Bome  of  these  colonies  (for  we  do  not  expect  one  here  iu 
New-England)  ;  and  we  are  not  willing  to  despair  but  that 
earnest  and  perseA'ering  endeavours  may  yet  bring  it  to  pass. 
We  humbly  beg  your  lordship's  candor  with  regard  to  the 
warmth  our  consciences  oblige  us  to  express  on  this  melan- 
choly occasion."* 

But  these  were  not  now  the  only  hindrances.  In  many 
respects  the  time  was  wholly  unpropitious  for  the  effort. 
Discord  had  been  long  at  work  between  the  mother  coun- 
try and  the  colonies,  and  men's  minds  had  become  embit- 
tered against  everything  of  English  aspect.  They  associ- 
ated the  name  of  bishops  with  the  institutions  of  the 
mother  country,  and  were  unwilling  to  receive  them  from 
her,  even  whilst  they  admitted  and  believed  that  their 
office  was  essential  to  the  perfection  of  the  Church.  Other 
causes,  too,  were  at  work.  There  were  some,  no  doubt, 
desirous  of  maintaining  the  union  between  England  and 
America,  who  feared,  at  that  moment  of  fiei'ce  and  unna- 
tural suspicion,  to  introduce  any  new  cause  of  dillerence, 
or  to  alienate  still  farther  the  sectarian  population  by  the 
name  of  bishops.  When,  therefore,  the  Virginian  clergy, 
who  might  be  naturally  thought  most  ready  to  unite  in 

*  Letter  from  Cunvention  of  Connecticut  to  tlie  Lord  Bishop  of 
London,  Oct.,  1766, — Fulliam  mss. 


SIGNS    OF    THE    TIMES.  129 

this  appeal,  were  called  together  by  their  commissary,  in 
April  1771,  for  its  consideration,  so  few  appeared  in  coun- 
cil that  the  question  was  postponed.  A  second  sunnnous 
brought  no  more  than  twelve,  a  majority  of  wliom,  alter 
one  opposite  decision,  agreed  to  an  appeal  to  the  king  in  favor 
of  an  American  episcopate.  But  against  this  vote,  two  at 
first,  and  ultimately  four,  out  of  the  twelve,  protested  pub- 
licly ;  and  such  was  the  feeling  of  the  laity,  that  these  four 
received  the  unanimous  thanks  of  the  lower  branch  of  the 
A''irginian  house  of  legislature,  for  "their  wise  and  well- 
timed  opposition  to  the  pernicious  project  for  introducing 
an  American  bishop."  Yet  of  this  very  body  the  great 
majority  would  have  termed  themselves  episcopalians  ; 
and  the  reasons  given  for  the  protest  refer  only  to  present 
expediency,  whilst  it  professes  to  revere  episcopacy.  Three 
out  of  the  four  reasons  on  which  it  was  grounded  were, 
(1)  the  disturbances  occasioned  by  the  stamp-act  ;  (2)  a 
recent  rebellion  in  North  Carolina;  and  (3)  the  general 
clamor  of  the  moment  against  introducing  bishops  ;  whilst 
the  fourth,  in  fact,  affected  only  the  intended  form  of  appli- 
cation, Avhich,  it  was  contended,  should  be  first  addressed 
to  the  Bishop  of  London  for  advice,  before  it  besought  the 
throne  for  the  episcopate. 

Under  these  reasons  the  true  cause  of  this  opposition 
may  be  read.  There  were  already  signs  abroad  of  the  ap- 
proaching hurricane  :  the  whole  atmosphere,  political  and 
moral,  was  heated  and  disturbed.  Old  men  looked  around 
them  with  wonder  and  fear  at  the  great  change  in  opinions 
as  to  Church  and  State,  which  they  saw  passing  upon  all. 
They  could  "  remember  when,  excepting  a  few  inoffensive 
(Quakers,  there  was  not  in  the  whole  colony  a  single  con- 
gregation of  dissenters  of  any  denomination,"*  and  when 
loyalty  and  love  for  their  Church  Avas  the  verj'  character- 
istic of  the  "  Virginian  dominion :"  but  now  all  was 
changed.  A  popular  candidate  applied  for  votes  upon  the 
profession  of  "  low  churchmanship  and  whiggery."t  It 
were  as  easy  "  to  comit  the  gnats  that  buzz  about  in  a  sum- 

*  Boucher's  American  Revolution :  a  sermon  preached  at  St.  Mary's, 
Caroline  ctiunty,  Virginia,  in  1771,  p.  97. 
t  Boucher's  S-jrmon,  p.  98. 
6* 


130  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

mer's  evening,  as  the  numbers  of  sectarian  and  itinerant 
priests  ;  and  in  particular  of  those  swarms  of  separatists, 
who  had  sprung  up  under  the  name  of  Anabaptists  aiid 
New  Lights  within  the  last  seven  years."* 

With  this  increase  of  schismatics  the  Church  was 
taunted  as  a  proof  of  her  remissness.  It  was  in  vain  that 
she  replied,  that  "itinerant  pi-eachers,  with  whom  the 
colony  was  overrun,  made  their  proselytes  in  parishes  left 
vacant  through  the  want  of  bishops  to  ordain  successors  :"t 
the  temper  of  the  time  was  against  all  authority  in  Church 
or  State.  The  party  papers  of  the  day  took  np  the  contest. 
The  discussion  on  the  American  Episcopate  was  conducted 
by  the  same  organs  and  in  the  same  temper  as  that  on  the 
recent  stamp-act.  Continued  misrepresentation  stirred  up 
the  feelings  of  the  people  into  angry  opposition  to  the  plan. 
"  It  is  our  singular  fate,"  boldly  declared  a  preacher  at  the 
time,  in  the  face  of  some  of  the  warmest  opposers  of  epis- 
copacy, "  to  have  lived  to  see  a  most  extraordinary  event 
in  Church  history :  professed  churchmen  fighting  the  bat- 
tles of  dissenters,  and  our  worst  enemies  now  literally  those 
of  our  own  household."  "  Till  now,  the  ojDposition  to  an 
American  episcopate  has  been  confined  chiefly  to  the  dema- 
gogues and  Independents  of  the  New-England  provinces ; 
but  it  is  now  espoused  with  warmth  by  the  people  of  Vir- 
ginia."! 

In  such  a  state  of  things  sober-minded  men,  Avho  loved 
their  country,  looked  onward  with  unfeigned  alarm." 
"  What  evils, "^  declared  one  of  them  almost  prophetically, 
in  1769,  "  this  prevalence  of  sectarianism,  so  sudden,  so 
extraordinary,  and  so  general,  may  j^ortend  to  the  state,  I 
care  not  to  think.  Enthusiasts  conceive  it  to  be  the  com- 
mencement of  a  millennium  :  but  I  recollect  with  horror 
that  such  were  the  '  signs  of  the  times'  previous  to  the  great 
rebellion  in  the  last  century." 

In  this  unhappy  temper  of  the  country,  unanimity  of 
effort  to  secure  the  episcopate  was  manifestly  hopeless. 
Some  of  the  southern  clergy  boldly  rebuked  their  more 

*  Boucher's  Sermon,  p.  100.  t  lb. 

X  lb.  pp.  94,  103.  §  lb.  p.  79. 


COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    STORM.  131 

time-serving  brethren ;  and  an  "  appeal"  was  published 
"from  the  clergy  of  New- York  and  New  Jersey  to  the 
episcopalians  in  Virginia,"  lull  of  arguments  which,  on 
their  common  principles,  admitted  of  no  answer.  But 
events  were  hastening  on  to  a  far  different  end.  The  storm 
of  revolution  was  already  breaking  on  the  land  ;  and  till  its 
fury  had  swept  past,  the  desire  of  every  pious  churchman 
must  be  unattainable. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  1775  TO  1783-4. 

Revolutionary  war — Loyalty  of  the  Northern  clergy — Persecution — 
Virginian  clergy  generally  loyal — Treated  with  violence — Thomas 
JetTerson — Zeal  of  the  Anabaptists — Their  hatred  to  the  Churcli — 
Repeal  of  all  former  acts  in  its  favor — Incomes  of  the  clergy 
stopped — They  are  stripped  even  of  the  glebes  and  churches — 
Conduct  of  the  Methodists — Jolin  Wesley  persuaded  to  consecrate 
Dr.  Coke — Depressed  state  of  the  Church  at  the  end  of  tlie  war — 
Religion  at  a  low  ebb — 'llie  revolutionary  war  a  consequence  of 
the  Church  not  having  been  planted  in  America. 

The  first  blood  shed  in  ihe  war  of  American  independence 
was  at  Lexington,  in  the  year  1775.  The  northern  colo- 
nies, which  had  been  all  along  the  great  fomenters  of  dis- 
turbance, now,  true  to  the  sjiirit  of  their  ancestors,  led  the 
way  in  revolt.  Amidst  the  general  defection,  one  class  of 
men  alone  continued  loyal.  Whilst  hypocrisy  found  in  Puri- 
tanism the  forms  it  needed,*  no  one  minister  of  the  Epis- 
copalian Church  north  of  Pennsylvania  joined  the  side  of 
the  insurgents  ;  and,  as  if  to  make  the  lesson  plainer  to 
the  mother  country,  the  king's  troops  were  fired  upon  for 
the  first  time  from  a  meeting-house  in  Massachusetts  Bay.f 
The  great  mass  of  the  clergy  here  were  missionaries  of  the 
venerable  society,  and  depended  for  their  incomes  on  the 
salaries  they  drew  from  it.  But  deeper  motives  lay  at 
the  root  of  their  firm  loyalty.  They  had  learned  to  honor 
their  king  in  the  same  holy  oracles  Avhich  bid  them  fear 
their  God  ;  and  though  there  may  be  nothing  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Church  which  makes  it  incompatible  with 
republican  institutions,  yet  those  who  had  sworn  allegiance 
to  the  croM^n  of  England  knew  not  how  to  break  those 
oaths  without  the  crime  of  perjury. 

*  See  p.  135.        f  Boucher's  American  Revolution. 


PERSECUTION.  133 

Their  constancy  was  not  a  little  tried ;  and  it  endured 
the  trial.  Mr.  Beach,  the  venerable  pastor  of  Newtown, 
answered  an  injunction  to  cease  praying  for  the  king,  by 
the  declaration,  "that  he  would  do  his  duty,  preach  and 
pray  for  the  king,  till  they  cut  out  his  tongue."*  One  of 
the  insurgent  generals  acquainted  the  Rev.  Mr.  Inglis  that, 
"  General  Washington  would  be  at  church,  and  would  be 
glad  if  the  prayers  for  the  king  and  royal  family  were 
omitted,  or  the  word  '  king '  exchanged  for  '  common- 
wealth.' "  Mr.  Inglis  paid  no  attention  to  the  message, 
and  declared  soon  after  to  Washington  in  person  "  that  it 
was  in  his  power  to  close  their  churches,  but  by  no  means 
in  his  poM'er  to  make  the  clergy  depart  from  their  duty." 
To  try  his  determination,  one  hundred  and  fifty  armed 
men  marched  into  the  church  m  which  he  was  ofiiiciating  ; 
but  he  fearlessly  continued  the  appointed  service.  Tlio 
officers  sent  to  him  for  the  keys  of  the  church,  that  they 
might  open  it  to  the  sectarian  chaplains.  He  at  once  re- 
fused ;  took  all  the  keys  from  the  inferior  servants  of  the 
church,  and  stood  his  ground  so  firmly,  that  the  attempt 
Avas  shortly  after  dropped. 

But  firmness  would  not  always  .«ave  the  clergy  from 
violence  and  Avrong.  Many  received  personal  ill-treat- 
ment ;  and  in  1777,  Trinity  Church,  New- York  was  burned 
by  incendiaries  ;  and  Mr.  Avery  barbarously  murdered,  be- 
couse  he  refused  to  pray  for  congress.  From  the  first  out- 
break of  the  revolution  this  spirit  had  been  stirring  ;  the 
builders  of  St.  John's  Churcli,  Elizabeth  Town,  New  Jer- 
sey, had,  in  1771,  to  watch  by  night  with  swords  in  their 
hands  over  the  rising  Avails  of  their  new  temple. f  As  tlie 
war  proceeded,  outrages  became  more  general,  until  there 
was  not  in  many  of  the  northern  provinces  one  church  re- 
maining open.  In  Pennsylvania  one  only  Avas  left,  under 
the  ministry  of  Mr.  White,  avIio,  Avith  Dr.  Provoost,  Avere 
the  first  Americans  afterwards  consecrated  bishops  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

These  passionato  outbreaks  Avere  not   confined  to  the 

*  Gadsden's  Preliininary  to  the  Life  of  Delioii,  p.  37. 
t  Historical  Notices  of  St.  John's  Church,  p.  17,  bv  John  Rudd, 
D.D. 


134  AJIERICAN   CHURCH. 

northern  provinces,  in  which  the  clergy  were,  for  the  most 
part,  missionaries  of  the  Gospel-Propagation  Society,  and 
might  for  that  reason  be  more  closely  identified  with  the 
EngUsh  people.  In  Maryland  and  Virginia,  where  the 
clergy,  supported  by  endowments,  were  entirely  identified 
with  colonial  interests,  they  were  similarly  treated.  The 
Church  was  an  object  of  suspicion  and  dislike  to  the  insur- 
gents. They  felt  that  her  temper  was  against  them,  even 
when  her  sons,  as  in  the  case  of  Gteneral  Washington,  were 
found  amongst  their  leaders.  In  these  provinces,  as  well  as 
in  the  north,  the  great  bulk  of  the  clergy  remained  loyal. 
Some  of  them  continued  to  officiate  and  employ  the  English 
ritual,  praying  duly  for  the  king,  in  spite  of  threats  and  vio- 
lence, which  were  carried  to  the  greatest  lengths.  Thus, 
for  instance,  one  clergyman,  who  had  oftended  the  revolu- 
tionary party  through  his  consistent  loyalty,  was  enticed 
from  home  at  night  by  a  feigned  message,  which  called  for 
his  attendance  on  a  sick  parishioner.  He  fell  into  the  snare, 
was  carried  to  the  woods,  and  there  tied  up,  and  after  being 
mercilessly  flogged,  left,  till  he  was  foimd  and  rescued  in 
the  morning.*  Yet  even  here  consistent  firmness  some- 
times triumphed.  One  Virginian  clergyman  refused,  when 
violence  was  at  its  greatest  height,  to  close  his  church  or 
change  his  service.  He  Avent  weekly  to  his  duty,  after 
taking  a  last  leave  of  all  his  family,  and  resolutely  minis- 
tered as  he  had  done  of  old.  Such  determination  met  with 
its  reward :  no  one  dared  to  interrupt  him,  and  his  house 
grew  into  a  safe  asylum  for  his  persecuted  brethren. 

But,  with  some  such  instances  of  firmness,  the  clergy, 
on  the  whole,  did  not  maintain  the  loyal  tone  which  had 
so  strongly  marked  the  northern  provinces.  They  were 
more  under  the  control  of  local  influence,  and  they  were 
beset  by  many  snares.  No  scruples  withheld  their  oppo- 
nents. If  the  rebellious  spirit  of  the  people  flagged,  the 
holiest  things  were  craftily  profaned  in  order  to  excite  their 
passions.  The  deist  Jefferson,  looking  back  upon  his  life, 
records  with  self-complacent  pleasure,  that,  thinking  "  the 
appointment  of  a  day  of  general  fasting  and  prayer  would 

*  Ms.  letter  quoted  by  Dr.  Hawks,  Epis.  Ch.  of  Virg. 


ANABAPTISTS.  135 

"be  most  likely  to  call  up  and  alarm  attention,  he  rummaged 
over  the  revolutionary  precedents  and  forms  of  the  Puritans, 
and  cooked  up  a  resolution  for  appointing  a  day  of  fasting, 
humiliation  and  prayer,  to  implore  Heaven  to  avert  from 
us  the  evils  of  a  civil  war."*  >Such  hypocrisy  was  always 
at  command.  And  in  order  to  entrap  the  clergy,  through- 
out the  early  stages  of  the  war  days  of  special  fasting  and 
prayer  were  publicly  enjoined  in  terms  of  studied  ambi- 
guity, M'hich  did  not  express  direct  opprobation  of  the  out- 
break, but  had  a  general  reference  to  the  disturbance  of 
the  times.  Such  orders  could  not  reach  the  northern  clergy ; 
but  here  the  Church  was  established,  and  the  clergy  were 
forced  suddenly  to  choose  Avhether  they  would  check  such 
wishes  of  apparent  piety,  or  indirectly  approve  of  the  rebel- 
lion. As  there  was  no  bishop  who  could  act  as  a  common 
centre  for  the  various  members  of  the  Church,  each  one 
took  singly  his  OAvn  line  ;  and  the  general  tone  being  lower 
here  than  in  the  north,  one-third  of  all  the  clergy  joined 
the  revolution,  and  more  than  one  laid  down  his  pastor's 
staff  and  censer  to  take  up  the  musket  and  the  sword. 
Two  of  the  Virginian  clergy  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  briga- 
dier-generals at  the  close  of  the  war. 

But  compromise  never  saved  the  Church,  and  it  did  not 
shield  it  in  Virginia.  Its  fiercest  enemies,  the  Anabaptists 
saw  at  once  the  favorable  moment,  and  resolved  to  seize  it 
In  their  secret  councils  they  had  already  doomed  the  pro- 
vincial establishment,!  and  they  set  themselves  at  once  to 
work  out  their  design.  Their  first  step  was  to  address  the 
convention  with  a  declaration  of  their  entire  concurrence  in 
the  war,  and  to  offer  the  assistance  of  their  pastors  in  en- 
listing the  youth  of  their  own  denomination.  This  done, 
they  petitioned  for  freedom  of  worship,  and  for  exemption 
from  payments  to  any  but  their  own  religious  teachers. J 
Their  zeal  was  met  by  a  permis.sion  to  officiate  in  the  army, 
in  common  with  the  established  clergy,  and  by  promises  of 
future  favor.  Encouraged  by  these  beginnings,  they  poured 
in  on  the  legislature  a  multitude  of  similar  petitions.     In 

*  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  p.  6. 

f  Journals  of  Convention,  August  1775,  quoted  by  Dr.  Hawks. 

X  Semple'e  History  »i  Virginia  Baptists,  pp.  25-27. 


136  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

their  prayer,  says  the  Anabaptist  historian  with  wonderful 
simplicity,  "the  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Cluakers,  Deists, 
and  all  the  covetous,"  united.  A  long  struggle  followed  in 
the  legislative  body,  which  gave  rise  to  "  the  severest  con- 
tests," says  Mr.  Jefierson,  the  chief  opponent  of  the  Church, 
"  in  which  I  have  ever  been  engaged."*  It  resulted  in  an 
act  repealing  all  foniier  laws  in  I'avor  of  the  Church  ;  ex- 
empting dissenters  from  further  contributions  to  its  funds  ; 
only  securing  to  the  clergy  existing  arrears  of  salaries,  with 
the  glebes,  churches,  plate,  and  books,  which  they  already 
possessed.  In  the  present  strife  of  parties,  this  act  stopped 
at  once  the  incomes  of  the  great  body  of  the  clergy,  and 
absolutely  drove  them  from  the  country.  Churches  were 
now  everywhere  abandoned,  flocks  wholly  broken  up,  and 
the  sacraments  administered  only  from  time  to  time  by  a 
few  zealous  pastors,  who  travelled  through  the  country  for 
the  purpose. 

Yet  even  this  did  not  satisfy  the  hatred  of  the  Anabap- 
tist faction.  The  title  to  the  glebes  was  still  in  the  Church  ; 
and  till  this  was  wrested  from  her,  their  spirit  could  not 
rest.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  the  revolutionary  war  was 
over,  they  returned  to  the  assault.  The  incorporation  of 
religious  bodies  was  rendered  legal  by  the  colonial  legisla- 
ture, and  the  Church  availed  itself  of  this  permission.  The 
first  act  of  the  dissenters  was  to  repeal  this  measure,  and 
dis.solve  the  voluntary  incorporation.  This  done,  they 
rssted  not  until,  in  1  803,  they  procured  the  confiscation 
and  sale  of  all  the  glebes  and  churches.  Even  the  com- 
munion-plate was  sold ;  and  the  offensive  desecration  of 
things  long  set  apart  to  holy  uses,  which  this  violence  oc- 
casioned, gratified  their  deep  hatred  to  the  Church. 

Other  evils  pressed  at  the  conclusion  of  the  revolutionary 
Avar  on  her  wounded  and  dismembered  body.  In  Virginia, 
as  at  home,  the  Methodist  connexion  had  been  founded  in 
communion  with  her.  Some  of  the  most  pious  of  the  clergy 
had  lent  their  aid  to  nurture  its  beghinings.  Its  teachers 
at  this  time  intruded  themselves  on  no  strictly  ministerial 
office ;  they  exhorted  all  their  flocks  to  cleave  to  the  Church ; 

*  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  p.  33. 


THE    METHODISTS.  137 

they  with  them  received  the  holy  eucharist  from  her  ap- 
pointed pastors ;  and  only  aimed  at  quickening  and  increas- 
ing the  religious  zeal  of  her  members.  Discipline  was  first 
openly  neglected  during  the  spiritual  famine  of  the  rerolu- 
tionary  war.  Under  its  pressure  some  of  the  Methodist 
exhorters  assumed  a  right  to  discharge  the  functions  of  or- 
dained men.  This,  hoM'ever,  was  completely  checked  by 
the  authority  of  Mr.  Asbury,  a  leader  of  their  body,  who 
with  indefatigable  labor  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  public 
disavowal  of  the  unwarrantable  practice. 

But  after  the  revolution  the  blow  fell  from  another  quar- 
ter. John  Wesley,  then,  as  his  brother  Charles  and  his 
biographer  suggest,  enfeebled  by  the  weight  of  fourscore 
years  and  two,  Avas  persuaded,  by  some  of  those  into 
wlio.se  hands  he  was  about  to  drop  the  reins  which  iu 
his  vigor  none  had  ever  shared  with  him,  to  attempt  to 
give  that  which  he  had  never  received — the  power  of  ordi- 
nation. He  found  in  Dr.  Coke  one  who,  with  much  zeal 
and  piety,  was  predisposed  by  strong  personal  vanity  to 
receive  gladly  the  pretended  consecration,  and  who  even 
pressed  strongly  on  "VYesley  his  "  earnest  Avish  "*  to  obtain 
it.  The  unhappy  step  was  therefore  taken  at  Bristol  iu 
1  784  ;  and  "  in  spite  of  a  million  declarations  to  the  con- 
trary, the  ordination  of  Methodist  parsons  on  the  Presby- 
terian planet  commenced  by  Wesley.  To  the  "  uninfected 
itinerants,"  says  Dr.  Whitehead,  himself  one  of  the  connec- 
tion, it  was  "  amazing  and  confounding."  Even  Charles 
Wesley,  who  was  at  Bristol  with  him,  was  not  in  his  bro- 
ther's secret  ;  But  in  an  evil  hour  John  Wesley  was  "  sui'- 
pvised  into  this  rash  action  ;"t  and  with  his  connnission,  and 
the  title  of  superintendent — soon  changed  by  imperceptible 
degrees  for  that  of  bishop — Dr.  Coke  went  out  to  America 
to  involve  the  Methodist  connection  there  in  open  schism. 

Mr.  Asbury  was  joined  in  this  commission  with  the 
doctor.  When  it  was  first  opened  to  him,  he  "  expressed 
strong  doubts  about  it  ;"^  but  the  authority  of  Mr.   Wes- 

•  Whitehead's  Life  of  "Wesley,  vol.  ii.  p.  419. 

f  lb.  vol.  ii.  p.  416. 

t  Charles  Wesley's  Letter  to  Dr.  Chandler. 


138  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

ley's  name  subdued  him,  and  at  length  he  joined  the  scheme  ; 
and  the  American  Methodists  were  severed  from  the 
Church. 

•^  The  reasons  given  by  John  Wesley  for  this  step  bear 
no  marks  of  his  vin-orous  understandiu":.  At  home  he  still 
declares,  he  would  not  suffer  it ;  but  where  there  were  "  no 
bishops  with  legal  jurisdiction,  his  scruples  were  at  an 
end."  He  seemed  to  himself  to  "  violate  no  order,  and  in- 
vade no  man's  right,  by  appointing  and  sending  laborers 
into  the  liarvest."  Every  Churchman  sees  at  once  the 
vanity  of  such  excuses.  In  admitting  the  power  of  bishops 
he  sealed  his  own  condenuiation.  For  if  such  an  order  did 
indeed  exist  in  the  Church  at  all,  possessed  of  powers  and 
functions  specially  committed  to  it  by  the  Lord,  AVesley 
could  not  at  his  own  desire  arm  himself  with  its  peculiar 
gifts.  Yet,  whilst  we  see  the  weakness  of  his  reasoning,  it 
is  most  instructive  to  mark  on  what  he  grounded  thelaw- 
fuhiess  of  this  usurpation.  Here  as  elsewhere,  it  is  to 
the  want  of  bishops  that  the  injury  may  be  distinctly 
traced. 

The  ppace,  which  was  proclaimed  in  April  1783,  found 
the  Church  wasted  and  almost  destroyed.  The  ministra- 
tions of  the  northern  clergy  had  been  suspended  by  their 
conscienlious  loyalty  ;  and  with  the  recognition  of  Ameri- 
can independence  the  connection  of  the  missionaries  of  the 
venerable  society  with  the  land  in  which  they  had  labored 
hitherto  was  abruptly  ended.  In  the  south,  its  condition 
was  not  greatly  better.  Virginia  had  entered  on  the  war 
with  one  hundred  and  sixty-tour  churches  and  chapels,  and 
ninety-one  clergj^men  spread  through  her  sixty-one  counties. 
At  the  close  of  the  contest,  a  large  number  of  her  churches 
were  destroyed  ;  ninety-five  parishes  were  extinct  or  for- 
saken ;  of  the  remaining  seventy-two,  thirty-four  were  with- 
out ministerial  services  ;  while  of  her  ninety-one  clergy- 
men, only  twenty-eight  remained."*  To  this  day,  the 
mournful  monuments  of  that  destruction  sadden  the  Church- 
man's heart  throughout  the  "  ancient  dominion."  As  he 
"  gazes  upon  the  roofless  walls,  or  leans  upon  the  little 

*  Dr.  Hawks'  Virginia,  p.  154.  154. 


EFFECTS    OF    THE    WAR.  139 

remnants  of  railing  which  once  surrounded  a  now  deserted 
chancel ;  as  he  looks  out  through  the  openings  of  a  broken 
wall,  upon  the  hillocks  under  which  the  dead  of  former 
years  are  sleeping,  with  no  sound  to  disturb  his  melancholy 
musings  save  the  whispers  of  the  wind  through  leaves  of 
the  forest  around  liim,  he  may  be  pardoned  should  he  drop 
a  tear  over  the  desolated  house  of  God."*  At  the  time,  the 
prospect  was  indeed  depressing.  The  'flocks  were  scatter- 
ed and  divided  ;  the  pastors  lew,  poor,  and  suspected  ;  their 
enemies  dominant  and  fierce.  Nothing  but  that  indes- 
tructible vitality  with  which  God  has  endowed  His  Church 
could  have  kept  it  alive  iu  that  day  of  rebuke  and  blas- 
phemy. Nor  was  it  her  communion  only  which  had  suf- 
fered ;  a  blighting  influence  pervaded  all  the  moral  atmos- 
phere. Religion,  in  its  most  general  form,  was  every  where 
depressed.  If  the  dissenters  seemed  to  triumph,  it  was 
mainly  because  Jefierson — the  friend  of  the  infamous  Tom 
Paine,  and  himself  supposed  to  be  a  settled  unbeliever — 
used  them  as  his  most  convenient  weapon  of  assault  upon 
the  Church.  He  and  others  like  himself  now  held  the  reins 
of  power,  and  iu  a  great  degree  directed  public  opinion. 
They  hated  the  Church  alike  for  her  loyalty  and  lor  her 
faith.  Whilst  she  had  learned  to  intercede  for  "  kings 
and  all  that  are  ui  authority,"  they  were  teaching  their 
young  republicans  to  "  besiege  the  throne  of  Heaven  with 
eternal  prayers  to  extirpate  from  creation  this  class  of  hu- 
man lions,  tigers,  and  mammoths,  called  kings."!  And 
her  faith  was  as  hateful  to  them  as  her  loyalty.  They  es- 
teemed it  a  "  form  of  tyranny  over  the  mind  of  man,  which 
had  its  birth  and  growth  in  the  blood  of  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  martyrs,  against  which  they  had  sworn  eternal 
hostiHty."t  Her  "  clergj' hved  by  the  schisms  they  could 
create." II  Her  saints  were,  like  "  Calvin  or  Athanasius, 
fanatics  and  impious  dogmatists."  v^  The  religious  faith  they 
would  them.selves  inculcate  may  be  learned  from  Jetierson's 

*  Hawks"  Virginia,  p.  155. 

t  Jefferson's  Jleinoirs,  vol  ii.  p.  52 1. 

\  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  4'.)9,  and  vol.  iv.  p.  368. 

II  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  475. 

^  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  vol.  iv.  p.  358 


140    .  AMEracAN  church. 

directions  to  a  youth  whose  mind  he  wished  to  form.  "  Fix 
reason,"  are  his  words,  "  firmly  in  her  seat,  and  call  to  her 
tribunal  every  fact,  every  opinion.  Question  even  the  be- 
ing of  a  God.  .  .  .  Do  not  be  frightened  from  this  inquiry 
by  any  fear  of  its  consequences.  If  it  ends  in  a  belief  that 
there  is  no  God,  you  will  find  incitements  to  virtue  in  the 
comfort  and  pleasantness  you  will  feel  in  its  exercise,  and 
the  love  of  others  which  it  will  procure  you."*  So  large 
were  his  views,  that  he  "  threw  the  mantle  of  public  protec- 
tion alike  over  the  Jew  and  Gentile,  the  Christian  and  Ma- 
hommedan,  Hindoo  and  infidel  of  every  denomination."! 
As  was  natural  in  such  a  state  of  things,  infidelity  was 
spreading  all  around,  girdled  every  where  by  a  fierce  and 
unreasoning  fanaticism.  "  From  a  pious  Presbyterian," 
says  a  writer  of  the  day,  J  "  I  learn  that  religion  is  at  a  low 
ebb  among  them.  The  Baptists,  I  suppose  are  equally  de- 
clining ;  I  seldom  hear  anything  about  them.  The  Me- 
thodists are  splitting  and  falling  to  pieces."  "  The  war," 
says  the  Anabaptist  chronicler  of  the  state  of  his  sect, 
"  though  very  propitious  to  their  liberty,  had  an  opposite 
effect  upon  the  life  of  religion  among  them.  They  suffered 
a  very  wintry  season The  declension  was  gene- 
ral  Iniquity  greatly  abounded." || 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  at  the  end  of  the  revolu- 
tionary war. 

It  is  impossible  to  close  the  scene  -without  reflecting 
how  different  it  might  have  been,  if  the  mother  country 
had  long  before  faithfully  established  the  strong  band  of  a 
true  community  of  faith  between  herself  and  her  colonies. 
Those  whose  minds  the  Church,  weak  as  she  was,  had 
leavened,  were  by  her  healing  influence  kept  loyal  in  the 
day  of  trial.  What  might  not  have  been  the  consequence, 
if,  instead  of  spreading  division  freely  in  that  land,  and 
keeping  her  maimed  and  impotent,  we  had,  with  a  true 
faith  in  God,  planted  her  amongst  our  western  children  in 

*  Jefferson's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  p.  217. 
f  Jefferson'  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  39. 
X  lafe  of  Rev.  Dovereaux  Jarratt,  p.  ISO. 

II  Semple's  Hist.  Virginia  Baptists,  pp.  35,  36,  quoted  by  Dr. 
Hawks. 


COLONIAL    EMPIRE.  141 

her  strength  and  beauty  I  The  colonies  might  now,  per- 
haps, have  been  as  much  an  independent  nation  ;  but  they 
might  have  reached  that  state  by  a  gradual  progress  to 
natural  maturity;  their  youthful  affections  might  never 
have  been  torn  from  us;  and  England,  America,  and  the 
world,  might  have  been  spared  those  bitter  sufferings  with 
which  they  have  been  visited  in  the  war  of  independence, 
and  its  clear  consequence,  the  French  Revolution.  But 
this  the  intrigues  of  party  statesmen  had  prevented.  In  vain 
the  Church  at  home  protested;  in  vain  America  sent,  year 
by  year,  her  supplications  for  the  boon ;  at  one  time  their  mu- 
tual suspicions ;  at  another,  fears  of  strengthening  the  Church 
at  home ;  the  hope,  at  another,  of  securing  the  support 
of  scliismatics  in  England  or  the  colonies, — led  these  men 
to  weave  otherwise  their  fine-spun  webs  of  cunning  policy. 
Thus  the  cause  of  God  was  slighted  ;  all  seemed  to  prosper 
for  a  while  ;  but  the  day  of  retribution  came  ;  and  surely 
that  hour  of  mortal  struggle,  closed  by  the  sudden  loss  of 
thosf  great  settlements,  was  intended  to  teach  England 
that  her  vast  colonial  empire  was  a  trust  from  God  ;  and 
that,  if  she  would  not  use  it  for  His  glory,  it  should  wither 
in  her  grasp. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

'from  i'783  TO  1787. 

Depression  of  the  Church — Parties — And  Opinions — Attempteil  or- 
ganisation in  the  south — Mr.  White — Conventions  in  Virginia  and 
Philadelphia — Agreement  on  common  principles — First  move- 
ments for  general  union — General  voluntary  meeting  at  New-York 
— Want  of  episcopate — Movement  amongst  the  eastern  clergy — 
They  elect  Dr.  Seabury  bishop — He  sails  for  England — Disap- 
jiointed  of  consecration  there — Dr.  Berkeley  and  the  Scotch 
Bishops — Dr.  Seabury  applies  to  them — Opposition — his  conse- 
cration— And  return — First  convention  at  Philadelphia — Differ- 
ence of  opinion — Dr.  White — Proposed  liturgy — Application  to 
the  English  prelates  for  the  apostolical  succession — Their  objections 
to  some  changes  in  the  liturgy — These  reconsidered — Drs.  White 
and  Provoost  embark  for  England — Are  consecrated  at  Lambeth 
— Return  to  America,  April  1787. 

It  has  been  often  seen,  in  the  deahngs  of  God  with  His 
people,  that  mortahty  becomes  the  .seed  of  hfe.  "  Except 
a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  gronnd  and  die,  it  abideth  alone  ; 
but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  "  That  which 
thou  sowest  is  not  quickened,  except  it  die."  And  so  it 
was  now  with  the  Church  in  America.  Crushed  it  was, 
and  almost  brought  to  nothing ;  made  the  very  prey  of  its 
enemies  ;  abandoned,  of  necessity,  by  the  fostering  hand 
which  from  without  had  so  long  sheltered  it ;  Aveak  in  the 
sunken  spirits  of  its  own  children  ;  yet  even  in  that  hour  of 
darkness  and  depression,  preparing  to  arise  in  a  perfectness 
of  discipline  and  strength  which  it  never  had  known,  and 
never  could  know,  whilst,  instead  of  being  planted  as  a 
substantive  communion,  it  was  treated  as  a  distant,  incom- 
plete, and  feeble  branch  of  one  settled  in  another  land.  It 
had  within  itself  the  principle  of  life  ;  and  now  that  it  was 
cast  out  into  the  field  of  the  world,  although  suddenly  and 


PARTIES    IN    THE    CHURCH.  143 

rudely,  it  began  to  strike  its  roots,  and  put  forth  its  tender 
buds. 

Yet  dangers  of  the  most  various  character  threatened 
its  existence.  A  tM'ofold  object  was  before  those  who 
Avalched  over  it ;  to  provide,  through  the  possession  of  the 
Episcopal  succession,  for  the  independent  existence  of  the 
Church,  and  to  gatlier  up  into  a  national  coiumuuion  the 
scattered  congregations  of  the  old  "  Church  of  England  in 
America."  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  secure  either  of 
these  objects,  and  peculiar  difficulties  opposed  their 
combination.  There  always  have  been,  and,  from  the 
constitution  of  the  human  mind,  there  always  must  be, 
in  the  Churcli  two  extremes  of  opiiiioii,  towards  which, 
on  the  one  side  -or  the  other,  its  members  will  incline. 
On  the  one  side  are  ranged  those  who  are  disposed  to  set 
a  high  value  on  external  observances  and  forms  ;  on  the 
other,  those  to  whom  the  inner  spirit  seems  so  exclusively 
important  that  they  are  inclined  to  undervalue  and  despise 
all  outward  organs  through  which  only  it  can  act.  Between 
those  who  belong  to  these  extremes,  mutual  suspicions  must 
from  time  to  time  spring  up,  which  too  often  harden  into 
obstinate  separation.  Of  this  there  was  now  the  greatest 
danger  in  America.  In  the  eastern  states  the  distinctive 
features  of  Church  discipline  and  order  were  passionately 
valued ;  whilst  in  the  south  the  great  majority  were  not 
unwilling  to  give  them  up  entirely  ;  separation  between  the 
two  parties  seemed  inevitable,  and  the  very  existence  of 
episcopacy  was  in  peril  with  the  last. 

But  at  this  dangerous  time  God  had  richly  endued  one 
of  His  servants  with  those  gifts  of  judgment  and  temper 
which  were  needful  for  the  crisis  ;  and  hence  the  name  of 
"William  White  v,ill  ever  be  recorded  by  the  grateful  re- 
membrance of  the  Western  Church.  TJie  revolutionary 
war  found  him  assistant  minister  of  Christ  Church  and  St. 
Peter's,  Philadelphia.  Mild  in  manners,  meek  in  spirit, 
and  large  in  toleration  of  the  views  of  others,  he  was  yet 
firm  and  decided  in  his  own.  Early  in  the  war,  he  joined, 
from  conviction,  the  side  of  the  colonists,  and,  at  its  dark- 
est moment,  publicly  committed  hnnself  to  it,  by  under- 
taking the  chaplainship  of  congress.     The  progress  of  the 


144  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

war  left  him  the  sole  minister   of  Christ  Church  and   St. 
Peter's,  and  the  election  of  the  vestry  made  him  their  rec- 
tor.    When  the  cause  of  colonial  independence  triumphed, 
liis  presence  in  a  great  measure   turned   aside   the  angry 
jealousies  with  which  the  young  republic  looked  on  the  con- 
nexion to  which  he  belonged.     His  consistent  conduct  was 
well  known  ;   and  Washington  was  one  of  those  who  wor- 
shipped at  his  church.     Men  would  hear  from  him  what 
they   would   not   from    another.     jSTor   was    he    slow   to 
employ    this    advantage   the   general    good.       His    views 
were  early  turned  to  gathering  the  various  flocks  which  were 
scattered  through  the  states  into   one  visible  communion. 
Early  in  August  1782,  despairing  of  the  speedy  recognition 
of  American  independence,  and  "  perceiving  their  ministry 
gradually  approaching  to   annihilation,"*  while  England 
was  as  unwilluig  to  give,  as  America  to  receive  the  episco- 
pate from  her,  he  proposed  a  scheme  for  uniting  the   dif- 
ferent parislies  in  convention,  and  on  behalf  of  their  whole 
body,  committing  to  its   president  and  others  the  powers  of 
ordination  and    discipline.      This  proposal   spnmg  from  no 
conscious    undervaluing   of  episcopacy,  but  from  a  belief 
"  that  in  an  exigency  in  which  a  duly  authorised  ministry 
could  not  be  obtained,  the  paramount  dutyof  preaching  the 
Gospel,  and  the  worshipping  of  God  on  the  terms  of  the 
Christian  covenant,  should  go  on  in  the  best  manner  which 
circumstances  permit."!     Should  more  favorable  prospects 
dawn  upon  them,  and  the  succession  be  obtained,  he    pro- 
posed, by  a  provisional  ordination,  to  supply  any  deficien- 
cies of  ministerial  character  in  those  who  had  been  thus 
ordained.     Happily   no   such   scheme   took   effect,  since  it 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  laid  the  foundation  of  wide- 
spread and  endless  separation.  In  the  very  month  in  which 
Mr.  White's  pamphlet  was  published,   tlie    hearts    of  all 
were  gladdened  by  clear  symptoms  of  approaching  peace 
between  the  mother  country  and  her  now  independent  co- 
lonies.    This  was  no   sooner  established  than  Mr.   White 
abandoned  his  scheme,  and,  daring  to  look  on  to  greater 
tilings,  set  himself  to  gather  into  one    the  various  hmbs  of 

*  Letter  to  Bp.  Hobart,  quoted  in  Life  of  Bp.  White,  p.  80. 
f  Note  of  Bp.  White's  to  his  Letter  to  Bp.  Hobart,  Dec.  1830. 


MOVEMENTS    FOR   UNION.  145 

the  episcopal  communion,  that  they  might  apply  in  concert 
to  the  mother  country  for  the  consecration  of  their  bishops. 
He  began  with  his  own  state  of  Pennsylvania,  calling  to- 
gether first  his  own  vestries,  and  then  (on  the  31st  of 
March,  1784)  the  other  clergy  of  the  state  who  happened 
to  be  present  in  the  town,  to  deliberate  upon  the  measures 
rendered  necessary  by  the  present  posture  of  the  episcopal 
communion.  They  agreed  to  send  a  circular  to  all  the 
episcopalian  congregations  in  Pennsylvania,  invitmg  them  to 
delegate  one  or  more  of  their  vestry  to  meet  the  clergy  of 
the  state  in  a  general  consultation  on  the  21th  of  May.  On 
the  day  appointed  they  assembled,  and  agreed  to  certain 
fundamental  principles  as  a  basis  for  after  action  as  a 
body.     These  were  : — - 

1.  That  the  episcopal  Church  is,  and  ought  to  be, 
independent  of  all  foreigu  authority,  ecclesiastical  or  civil. 

2.  That  it  hath,  and  ought  to  have,  in  common  with 
other  religious  societies,  full  and  exclusive  powers  to  regu- 
late the  concerns  of  its  own  communion. 

3.  That  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  be  maintained,  as 
now  professed  by  the  Church  of  England,  and  uniformity 
of  worship  continued,  as  near  as  may  be,  to  the  liturgy  of 
the  same  Church. 

4.  That  the  succession  of  the  ministry  be  agreeable  to 
the  usage  which  requireth  the  three  orders  of  bishops,  priests, 
and  deacons  ;  that  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  same  re- 
spectively be  ascertained,  and  that  they  be  exercised  accord- 
ing to  reasonable  laws  to  be  duly  made. 

5.  That  to  make  canons  or  laws,  there  be  no  other  au- 
thority than  that  of  a  representative  body  of  the  clergy  and 
laity  conjointly. 

6.  That  no  powers  be  delegated  to  a  general  ecclesias- 
tical government,  except  such  as  cannot  conveniently 
be  exercised  by  the  clergy  and  laity  in  their  respective 
congregations. 

Resolutions  to  a  somewhat  similar  effect  were  passed 
in  Maryland,  in  June  1784,  and  at  Boston,  in  Massachu- 
setts, in  September  of  the  same  year.  By  agreement  upon 
these  common  principles,  a  basis  for  internal  unity  of  ac- 
tion was  formed  within  the  separate  provinces  ;  but  there 
7 


146  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

was  still  wanting  some  common  bond  which  should  hold 
together  the  episcopal  communion  in  the  several  independ- 
ent governments  which  together  form  the  confederation 
of  the  United  States.  This  was  Mr.  White's  great  object, 
and  his  character  and  conduct  were  most  effectual  in  se- 
curing it.  His  early  efforts  were  especially  addressed  to 
the  members  of  the  southern  states,  and  amongst  them  his 
reputation  for  moderate  views  gave  great  weight  to  his  ad- 
vice. He  had  at  first  to  deal  with  most  discordant  mate- 
rials. One  state  (South  Carolina)  clogged  a  tardy  consent 
to  apply  for  the  episcopate  with  the  condition  that  no 
bishop  should  be  planted  in  her  borders  ;  and  something  of 
this  jealousy  was  widely  spread.  But  there  was  in  him 
nothing  to  inflame  it,  and  he  was  thus  able  to  win  over  to 
better  views  those  who  were  ready  to  oppose  themselves. 
In  the  month  of  May  1784,  a  few  clergymen  of  New- York, 
'New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  met  at  Brunswick  in  New 
Jersey,  to  renew  a  charitable  society  which  had  been  char- 
tered, before  the  revolution,  for  the  relief  of  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  the  clergy.  At  this  meeting  the  present  state 
and  prospects  of  their  Church,  and  the  best  means  of  unit- 
JLiig  its  scattered  parts,  came  naturally  under  their  discus- 
sion. To  obtain  this  end,  it  was  determined  to  procure  an- 
other and  more  numerous  gathering  at  New- York,  by  which 
some  common  principles  might  be  defined.  In  October 
1784,  the  projected  council  met,  eight  of  the  different 
states  furnishing  some  voluntary  delegates.  These  agreed 
on  seven  leading  principles  of  union,  which  they  recom- 
mended to  the  several  states,  and  which,  with  little  alter- 
ation, have  formed  ever  since  the  basis  of  their  combina- 
tion.     Of  these  the  chief  resolutions  were  the  folloAving  : — - 

1 .  That  there  should  be  a  general  convention  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

2.  That  the  Episcopal  Church  in  each  state  should 
Bend  deputies  to  the  convention,  consisting  of  clergy  and  laity. 

3.  That  the  said  Church  shall  maintain  the  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  as  now  held  by  the  Church  of  England,  and 
adhere  to  the  liturgy  of  the  said  Church  as  far  as  shall  be 
consistent  with  the  American  revolution  and  the  constitu- 
tions of  the  several  states. 


CONDITIONS    OF    UNION.  147 

4.  That  in  every  state  where  there  shall  be  a  bishop 
duly  cousecratetl  and  settled,  he  shall  be  considered  as  a 
member  of  the  couveiitiou  ex  o£ici(). 

5.  That  the  clergy  and  laity  assembled  in  convention 
shall  deliberate  in  one  body,  but  shall  vote  separately ;  and 
the  concurrence  of  both  shall  be  necessary  to  give  vahdity 
to  every  measure. 

6.  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  convention  shall  be  at 
Philadelphia,  the  Tuesday  before  the  feast  of  St.  Michael 
next. 

Such  were  the  first  efforts  made  witliin  this  Church 
for  visible  and  outward  unity.  That  they  should  be  made 
at  all  bespoke  the  living  energy  which  was  dormant  even 
in  their  most  imperfect  body  :  that  they  should  have  been 
required  is  a  heavy  charge  against  the  mother  Church. 
Never  had  so  strange  a  sight  been  seen  before  in  Christen- 
dom, as  this  necessity  of  various  members  knitting  them- 
selves together  into  one,  by  such  a  conscious  and  voluntary 
act.  In  all  other  cases  the  unity  of  the  common  Episco- 
pate had  held  such  limbs  together ;  every  member,  that  is, 
of  the  Church,  had  visibly  belonged  to  the  community  of 
which  the  presiLling  bishop  Avas  the  head.  That  bishop 
was  himself  one  member  of  an  equal  and  common  brother- 
hood, all  of  whom,  with  the  same  creed  and  in  the  same 
succession,  were  partners  in  one  common  power  which  each 
one  separately  administered  ;  and  so  each  member  of  the 
Church  under  them  belonged  already  to  one  great  corpora- 
tion, needing  to  make  no  voluntary  alliance  between  its 
several  parts,  because  it  was  already  one  ;  and  they  that 
were  grafted  into  it  were  thereby  grafted  into  unity  with 
their  fellows.  But  this  common  bond  we  had  left  wanting 
in  our  colonies ;  and  it  was  the  want  of  this  which  had 
thus  dismembered  their  communion.  As  soon,  therefore, 
as  the  political  connexion  of  the  state  with  England  was 
dissolved,  some  measures,  for  which  no  precedent  existed, 
were  forced  upon  them  ;  nor  would  it  have  been  easy  to 
devise  a  wiser  course  than  that  which  they  adopted,  in 
their  present  want  of  bishops,  who  have  ever  been  the 
organs  of  communication  between  different  portions  of  the 
Church. 


148  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

A  delegate  from  Connecticut  had  attended  the  conven- 
tion which  framed  these  recommendations,  but  he  took  no 
part  in  the  dehberations ;  for  Connecticut  had  early  moved 
in  a  somewhat  different  manner.  Amongst  the  eastern 
clergy,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  most  earnest  piety,  wedded 
to  the  strongest  and  most  clearly  ascertained  Church  prin- 
ciples. In  their  new  circumstances,  they  esteemed  it  their 
first  duty  to  perfect  their  system  by  securing  the  presence 
and  rule  of  a  bishop.  In  this  they  were  confirmed  by  the 
avowed  temper  of  the  south,  from  which  they  greatly 
feared  the  adoption  of  a  spurious  and  nominal  Episcopacy. 
They  began,  therefore,  at  once  to  act  for  themselves,  and 
refused  to  take  any  share  in  organizing  their  scattered 
communion  until  they  had  a  bishop  at  their  head.  As 
soon  as  the  peace  made  it  possible,*  the  clergy  met  in 
voluntary  convention  ;  and  before  the  British  troops  had 
evacuated  New- York,  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury,  formerly  a 
missionary  of  the  Gospel-Propagation  Society  in  Staten 
Island,  and  now  elected  bishop  by  the  clergy  of  Connecti- 
cut, had  sailed  for  England  to  obtain  consecration  there. 
Besides  the  certificate  of  his  election,  Dr.  Seabury  bore 
with  hmi  testimonial,  from  the  leading  clergy  of  New- 
York,!  and  letters  earnestly  requesting  of  the  English 
bishops  the  boon  which  America  had  so  long  sought  in 
vain. 

Dr.  Seabury  reached  England  at  a  time  when  the 
mutual  relations  between  this  country  and  her  late  colonies 
were  new '  and  vuicertain,  and  when  the  government  at 
home  were  full  of  care  lest  any  apparent  interference  on 
their  part  should  stir  up  the  jealousy  of  new-born  inde- 
pendence. Hence,  when  Dr.  Seabury  made  his  applica- 
tion to  the  Archbishop  of  York,  (the  see  of  Canterbury 
being  vacant,)  he  found  at  once  great  difliculties  in  his 
way.  Without  a  special  act  of  parliament,  the  archbishop 
could  not  consecrate  a  citizen  of  America  ;  for  no  subject 

*  March  1783. 

f  He  had  been  treated  with  great  severity  by  the  insurgents 
durinsj  the  revoUitionary  war ;  and  thougli  hunted  from  place  to 
place,  and  more  than  once  imprisoned,  had  maintained  liis  ministry 
till  the  last  moment. 


SCOTCH    BISHOPS.  149 

of  a  foreign  state  could  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  to  dis- 
pense with  which  the  archbishop  liad  no  power  ;  and  for 
such  an  act  ministers  would  not  apply,  until  they  were 
assured  that  the  step  would  not  offend  America.  De- 
lay and  uncertainty  became  thus  unavoidable  ;  whilst  the 
motives  which  had  led  to  the  attempt  pressed  strongly  on 
Dr.  Seabury.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  looked  anx- 
iously around,  to  see  if  he  could  projierly  obtain  from  any 
other  quarter  the  Episcopal  succession.  The  Church  in 
Scotland  at  once  attracted  his  attention.  There  the  true 
succession,  derived  of  old  time  from  ours,  was  carefully 
preserved ;  whilst  the  bishops,  unlike  those  in  England, 
were  fettered  by  no  connexion  witli  the  state.  The  Pres- 
byterian kirk  had  been  long  established  in  Scotland,  and 
the  Episcopalians  were  barely  tolerated  there.  They  con- 
sequently would  be  able,  Avithout  any  application  to  the 
state,  so  to  vary,  if  need  were,  the  form  of  consecration,  as 
to  make  it  suit  a  citizen  of  the  American  republic. 

Other  circumstances  had  been  preparing  the  way  for 
this  application.  In  the  autumn  of  1782,  before  the  recog- 
nition of  the  independence  of  the  North  American  colonies, 
the  attention  of  the  Scottish  bishops  had  been  specially 
called  to  the  state  of  the  Church  there.  In  October  of 
that  year.  Dr.  George  Berkeley,  eldest  son  of  the  great 
Bishop  Berkeley,  the  heir  of  his  father's  virtues,  and  of  his 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  America,  writing  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  (afterwards  Bishop)  Skinner,  expressed  his  hope,  "  that 
a  most  important  good  might  ere  long  be  derived  to  the 
suffering  and  nearly  neglected  sons  of  Protestant  Episco- 
pacy on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  from  the  sutli;ring 
Church  of  Scotland."  "  American  rebellion,"  he  continues, 
"  has  widened  her  religious,  or  rather  irreligious,  bottom 
so  extensively,  as  to  require,  from  those  who  bear  office 
under  her  baleful  shade,  a  simple  declaration  '  that  they 
believe  in  the  existence  of  the  Supreme  Being.'  I  would 
humbly  submit  it  to  the  bishops  of  the  Church  in  Scotland 
(as  we  style  her  in  Oxford),  whether  this  be  not  a  time 
pecuHarly  favorable  to  the  introduction  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopate  on  the  footing  of  universal  toleration,  and  be- 
fore any  anti-Episcopal  establishment  shall  have   taken 


150'  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

place.     God  direct  the   hearts  of  your  prelates    in   this 
matter."* 

Such  a  sugg'estion  as  this,  from  such  a  quarter,  attrac- 
ted immediate  atteutiou.  Dr.  Georg-e  Berkeley  was  a 
man  of  the  highest  station  in  the  English  Church.  He  had 
been  the  intimate  friend  of  the  late  Archbishop  Seeker, 
was  himself  a  prebendary  of  Canterbury,  and  had  two  years 
before  refused  the  bishopric  of  Killala.  The  episcopalians 
of  Scotland  had  been  little  accustomed  to  any  great  respect 
in  England,  and  were  therefore  the  more  attracted  by  such 
an  overture.  Many  ditiiculties,  however,  met  them  on  the 
threshold,  but  none  to  which  Dr.  Berkeley  would  yield. 
"As  to  American  Protestant  episcopacy  (for  2^opish  pre- 
lacy hath  found  its  way  into  the  transatlantic  world),  one 
sees  not  any  thing  complicated  or  ditlicult  in  the  mere 
plaiiting  it.  A  bishop  consecrated  by  the  English  or 
Irish  Church  would  fmd  considerably  stronger  prejudices 
against  him  in  the  revolted  colonies,  than  would  one  who 
had  been  called  to  the  highest  order  by  a  bishop  or  bishops 
of  the  Scotch  Church  ;  our  bishops,  and  those  of  Ireland, 
having  been  nominated  by  a  sovei'eign  against  whom  the 
colonists  have  rebelled,  and  whom  you  have  never  recog- 
nised. The  Americans  would,  even  many  of  the  episco- 
palians among  them,  entertain  political  jealousies  concern- 
ing a  bishop  by  any  means  connected  with?(;.s  ;  they  would 
be  apt  to  think  of  him  as  of  a  foe  to  their  wild  projects  of 
independency,    &c. 

"  I  am  as  far  removed  from  Erastianism  and  from  de- 
mocracy as  any  man  ever  was  ;  I  do  heartily  abominate 
both  of  those  anti-scriptural  systems.  Had  my  honored 
father's  scheme  for  planting  an  episcopal  college,  whereof 
he  was  to  have  been  president,  in  the  Summer  Islands, 
not  been  sacrificed  by  the  worst  minister  that  Britain  ever 
saw,  probably  under  a  mild  monarch,  (who  loves  the 
Church  of  England  as  much  as  I  believe  his  grandiather 
hated  it),  episcopacy  would  have  been  established  in  Ame- 
rica by  succession  from  the  Euglish  Church,  unattended 
by  any  invidious  temporal  rank  or  power.     But  the  dis- 

*  MS.  Seabury  papers.    The  italics  are  those  of  tlie  original  letter. 


SCOTCH    BISHOPS.  151 

seiiling  miscellaneous  interest  in  England  has  watched, 
with  too  sucriessful  a  jealousy,  over  the  honest  intentions  of 
our  best  bishops.   .   .   . 

"  From  the  Churches  of  England  and  Ireland  America 
will  not  now  receive  the  episcopate  ;  if  she  might,  I  am 
persuaded  that  many  oi'  lier  sons  would  joyfully  receive 
bishops  from  Scotland.  The  question,  then,  shortly  is,  Can 
any  proper  persons  be  found  who,  with  the  spirit  of  confess- 
ors, would  convey  the  great  blessing  of  the  Protestant  epis- 
copate from  the  persecuted  Church  of  Scotland  to  the 
struggling  persecuted  Protestant  episcopalian  worshippers 
in  America  ?  If  so,  is  it  not  the  duty  of  all  and  every 
bishop  of  the  Church  in  Scotland  to  contribute  towards  the 
sending  into  the  new  world  Protestant  bishops,  before  gene- 
ral assemblies  can  be  held  and  covenants  taken,  for  their 
perpetual  exclusion  ?     Liberavi  animani  meam. 

"  Deeply  convinced  as  I  am  of  the  necessity  of  episco- 
pacy towards  the  constitution  of  a  Christian  Church,  I 
hope  that  no  consideration  would  (I  know  that  no  consider- 
ation ought  to)  restrain  me  in  this  matter,  if  I  was  a  bishop. 
A  Scotch  bishop  consecrating  one  or  more  good  men,  of 
sound  ecclesiastical  principles,  might  now  sow  a  seed  which, 
in  smallness  resembling  that  of  mustard,  might  also  resem- 
ble it  in  subsequent  magnificence  and  amplitude  of  produc- 
tion. I  humbly  conceive  that  a  bishop  at  Philadelphia, 
who  had  never  sworn  to  king  George,  would  be  very  well 
placed.  The  (Quakers  are  a  tolerating  people.  I  have 
written  to  you  currente  calanio. 

"  If,  as  I  suspect,  persecution  shall  have  tended  to  damp 
the  spirits  of  our  right  reverend  fathers  in  Scotland,  /,  (who 
never  knew  experimentally  what  persecution  meant,)  must 
not  presume  to  censure.  Zeal  without  lujowledge — (with- 
out knowledge  of  one's  own  heart) — is  a  dreadlul  enemy 
of  true  religion."* 

In  answer  to  these  earnest  representations.  Bishop  Skin- 
ner (for  he  had  just  been  raised  to  the  episcopate)  laid  be- 
fore his  friend  the  great  difficulties  which  opposed  them- 
selves to  such  a  course. 

*  MS.  Seabury  papers. 


152  AMEUICAN   CHURCH. 

"  Nothing,"  lie  suggests,  "  can  be  done  in  the  affair 
with  safety  on  our  side,  till  the  independence  of  America 
be  fully  and  irrevocably  recognised  by  the  government  of 
Britain  ;  and  even  then  the  enemies  of  our  Church  might 
make  a  handle  of  our  correspondence  with  the  colonies,  as  a 
proof  that  we  always  wished  to  fish  m  troubled  waters — and 
we  have  little  need  to  give  any  ground  for  an  imputation  of 
that  kind."  He  urges,  further,  the  difficulty  of  finding  a 
proper  person,  and  the  uncertainty  of  his  reception  in  Ame- 
rica. To  all  this  Dr.  Berkeley  answers,  on  the  24th  of 
March  : — 

"I  beg  leave  to  observe,  with  all  becoming  deference, 
that  I  cannot  consider  the  immediate  and  unsolicited  in- 
troduction of  episcopacy  into  America  in  the  same  light 
wherein  it  is  viewed  by  yourself  and  your  venerable  bre- 
thren, the  bishops  of  the  Scotch  Church. 

"  From  the  papists  one  learns  that  no  time  is  to  be 
lost,  and  that  substances  are  to  be  preferred  to  shadows — 
things'^  essential,  to  the  ■])arai:)Ucrrudia  of  a  Church.  If 
I  ever  wrote  a  sentence  under  the  influence  of  an  humble 
spirit,  I  write  so  at  this  moment,  when  I  do  yet  adventure 
to  difler  from  iny  fathers  in  Christ.  A  consecration  in 
Scotland  might  be  very  secret ;  it  could  not  be  so  elsewhere. 
A  consecration  Iroixi  a  persecuted,  depressed  Church, 
which  is  barely  tolerated,  would  not  alarm  the  prejudices 
of  opponents.  I  need  not  say  to  Bishop  Skinner  or  his 
brethren,  that  an  episcopal  Church  may  exist  without  any 
legal  encouragement  or  establishment,  and  without  the 
definition  of  country  into  rcguhir  and  bouiuled  dioceses. 
Provincial  asseniblics  will  never  invite  a  prelate  ;  provin- 
cial assemblies,  if  they  establish  anything,  will  establish 
some  hmnan  device ;  but  iirovincicii  assemhlies  will  not, 
now  or  soon,  think  of  excluding  a  Protestant  bishop,  who 
sues  only  for  toleration.  Popish  prelates  are  now  in  North 
America  exercising  their  functions  over  a  willing  people, 
without  any  aid  or  encouragement  from  provincial  assem- 
blies. In  a  sliort  time,  we  must  expect  all  Protestant 
episcopalian  principles  to  be  totally  lost  in  America.  They 

*  Tlie  italics  throughout  are  preserved  from  tlie  original  letter. 


APPLICATION    TO    SCOTCH    BISHOPS.  153 

are  not  so  now ;  and  yet  episcopacy  must  be  sent  before  it 
be  asked :  these  are  lukewarm  days.  Christianity  waited 
not  at  the  first,  the  Church  of  Rome  waits  not  now,  for 
any  invitation  or  encouragement.  Bishop  Geddes  told  me 
that  the  pope  allows  him  2o/.  per  annum,  and  that  he  has 
no  other  settled  support ;  the  other  popish  bishops  in  Scot- 
land have  5l.  each  per  annmn  from  the  Bishop  of  Rome. 
Out  of  Scotland  there  is  but  little  known  concerning  the 
episcopal  Church  there  ;  and,  generally  it  is  conceived  to 
be  a  society  purely  iwlitical.  I  believe  a  secret  subscrip- 
tion could  be  raised,  adequate  to  the  purposes  of  support- 
ing one  pious,  sensible,  discreet  bishop,  at  least  for  a  season 
after  his  arrival  in  Virginia ;  and  I  thinlc  I  know  one  person 
competent  and  willing  ibr  the  great  work."* 

Thus  matters  stood  when  Dr.  Seabury  reached  Eng- 
land; and  finding  the  difficulties  which  beset  his  applica- 
tion to  the  English  bishops  for  the  present  insurmountable, 
began  to  turn  his  eyes  to  t^cotland.  In  Nov.  1783,  a  letter 
was  despatched  by  Mr.  Elphinston,  a  man  of  literary  repu- 
tation, the  son  of  a  Scotch  clergyman,  in  which  the  follow- 
ing queslion  was  put  to  the  primus  or  presiding  bishop  of 
the  Church  in  Scotland  :  "  Can  consecration  be  obtained 
in  Scotland  for  an  already  dignified  and  well-vouched 
American  clergyman,  now  at  London,  for  the  purpose  of 
perpetuating  the  episcopal  reformed  Church  in  America, 
particularly  in  Connecticut?"! 

At  the  same  time.  Dr.  Berkeley  thus  re-opened  his 
correspondence  with  Bishop  Skinner  : — "  I  have  this  day 
heard,  I  need  not  add  with  the  sincerest  pleasure,  that  a 
respectable  presbyter,  well  recommended  from  America, 
has  arrived  ui  London,  seeking  what,  it  seems,  in  the  present 
state  of  atl'airs,  he  carmot  exjiect  to  receive  in  our  Church. 

"  Surely,  dear  sir,  the  Scotch  prelates,  who  are  not 
shackled  by  any  Erastian  connexion,  will  not  send  this 
suppliant  empty  away. 

"  I  scruple  not  to  give  it  as  my  decided  opuiion,  that 
the  king,  sonie  of  his  cabinet  counsellors,  all  our  bishops 
(except,  peradventure,  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph),  and  all 

*  MS.  Seabury  papers.  t  lb. 

7* 


154  AMERICAN   CHtlRCIi. 

the  learned  and  respectable  clergy  in  our  Church,  will  at 
least  secretly  rejoice,  if  a  Protestant  bishop  be  sent  from 
Scotland  to  America  ;  but  more  especially  if  Coimecticut 
be  the  scene  of  his  ministry.  It  would  be  waste  of  words 
"to  say  anything  by  the  way  of  stirring  up  Bishop  Skinner's 
zeal."* 

The  Scotch  bishops,  in  replj^  required  information  as 
to  the  personal  merits  of  the  candidate  for  the  episcopate, 
as  well  as  on  the  hindrances  with  which  he  had  met  in 
England.  On  both  points  Dr.  Berkeley  answered  them, 
urging  strongly  that  they  need  anticipate  no  opposition 
from  the  English  government  to  their  granting  "a  conse- 
cration, which  can  contradict  no  law,  for  a  foreign  and 
an  independent  state.  My  reading,"  he  continues,  "  does 
not  enable  me  to  comprehend  how,  without  an  episcopacjs 
the  gospel,  together  with  all  its  divine  institutions,  can  pos- 
sibly be  propagated.  In  the  present  state  of  matters,  I  do 
not  sec  how  the  English  primate  can,  without  royal  license 
at  least,  if  not  parliamentary  likewise,  proceed  to  conse- 
crate any  bishop,  except  for  those  districts  which  erst  were 
allowed  to  give  titles  to  assistant  bishops.  In  this  state  of 
tilings,  I  think  the  glory  of  communicating  a  Protestant 
episcopacy  to  the  united  independent  states  of  America 
seems  reserved  for  the  Scotch  bishops.  Whatever  is  done 
herein  ought  assuredly  to  be  done  very  quickly,  else  the 
never-ceasing  endeavors  of  the  English  dissenters,  whose 
intolerance  has  kept  back  the  blessing  of  prelacy  from  the 
Protestant  prelatists  of  America,  will  stir  up  too  probably 
a  violent  spirit  in  Connecticut  against  the  bishop  in  fieri. 
If  the  Church  of  England  was  to  send  a  bishop  into  any 
one  of  the  United  States  of  America,  the  congress  might, 
and  probably  would,  exclaim,  that  England  had  violated 
the  peace,  and  still  claimed  a  degree  of  supremacy  over  • 
the  subjects  of  that  independent  state.  The  episcopal 
Church  of  Scotland  caiuiot  be  suspected  of  aiming  at  supre- 
macy of  any  kind,  or  over  any  people.  I  do  therefore  earn- 
estly hope,  that,  very  shortly,  she  may  send  a  prelate  to 
the  aid  of  transatlantic  aspirants  for  the  primitive  ordinance 
of  confirmation."! 

*  MS.  Seabury  papers.  t  Ibid. 


DR.  seabury's  application.  165 

The  Scotch  bishops  now  expressed,  in  answer,  "  their 
warmest  approbation  of  the  new  proposal."  Their  primus 
(Bishop  Kiljrour)  expressed  his  "  hearty  concurrence  in  the 
proposal  for  introducing  Protestant  episcopacy  into  Ame- 
rica. All  things,"  he  continues,  "  bid  fair  for  the  candi- 
date. I  hope,  indeed,  that  the  motion  is  from,  and  the 
plan  laid  under,  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  as 
it  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance,  it  is  necessary 
we  go  about  our  part  in  it  with  the  utmost  circumspec- 
tion." "  The  very  prospect,"  writes  another  bishop,  "  re- 
joices me  greatly  ;  and  considering  the  great  depositum 
committed  to  us,  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  account  to  our 
great  Lord  and  Master,  if  we  neglect  such  an  opportunity 
of  promoting  His  truth,  and  enlarging  the  borders  of  His 
Church."^ 

At  length,  upon  the  31st  of  August,  1784,  Dr.  Seabury 
made  a  distinct  application  to  the  Scottish  bishops.  "  1 
thought  it  my  duty,"  he  says,  referring  to  his  appUcation 
for  English  consecration,  "  to  pursue  the  plan  marked  out 
for  me  by  the  clergy  of  Connecticut,  as  long  as  there  was 
a  probable  chance  of  succeeding.  That  probability  is  now 
at  an  end  ;  and  I  think  myself  at  liberty  to  pursue  such 
other  schemes  as  shaill  ensure  to  them  a  valid  episcopacy. 
Such  I  take  the  Scotch  episcopacy  to  be,  in  every  sense  of 
the  word  ;  and  such,  I  know,  the  clergy  of  Connecticut 
consider  it,  and  always  have  done  so.  But  the  connexion 
that  has  always  subsisted  between  them  and  the  Church  of 
England,  and  the  generous  support  they  have  hitherto  re- 
ceived from  that  Church,  naturally  led  them,  though  now 
no  longer  a  part  of  the  British  dominions,  to  apply  to  that 
Church  in  the  first  instance  for  relief  in  their  spiritual  ne- 
cessity. Unhappily  the  ministry  have  refused  to  permit  a 
Jjishop  to  be  consecrated  without  the  formal  request,  or  at 
least  consent,  of  congress,  which  there  is  no  chance  of  ob- 
taining, and  which  the  clerg}-  of  Connecticut  would  not 
apply  for,  were  the  chance  ever  so  good.  They  are  content 
with  having  the  episcopal  Church  in  Connecticut  put  upon 
the  same  footing  with  every  other  religious  denomination.  A 

*  MS.  Seabury  papers. 


156  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

copy  of  a  law  of  the  state  of  Connecticut,  whicli  enables  the 
episcopal  congregations  to  transact  their  ecclesiastical  af- 
fairs upon  their  own  principles,  to  tax  their  members  for 
the  maintenance  of  their  clergy,  for  the  support  of  their 
worship,  for  the  building  and  repairing  of  churches,  and 
which  exempts  them  from  all  penalties  and  from  all  other, 
taxes  on  a  religious  account,  I  have  in  my  possession.  The 
legislature  of  Connecticut  know  that  a  bishop  is  applied 
for  ;  they  know  the  person  in  whose  favor  the  application 
is  made  ;  and  they  give  no  opposition  to  either.  Indeed, 
were  they  disposed  to  object,  they  have  more  prudence  than 
to  attempt  to  obstruct  it.  They  know  that  there  are  in 
that  state  more  than  seventy  episcopal  congregations ; 
many  of  them  large  ;  some  of  them  making  a  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  of  large  towns,  and,  with  tho.se  that  are 
scattered  through  the  state,  composing  a  body  of  near  or 
quite  40,000 — a  body  too  large  to  be  needlessly  afironted 
in  an  elective  government. 

"  On  this  ground  it  is  that  I  apply  to  the  good  bishops 
in  Scotland  ;  and  I  hope  I  shall  not  apply  in  vain.  If  they 
consent  to  impart  the  episcopal  succession  to  the  Church 
of  Connecticut,  they  will,  I  think,  do  a  good  work,  and 
the  blessing  of  thousands  will  attend  them.  And  perhaps 
for  this  cause,  among  others,  God's  providence  has  sup- 
ported them,  and  contiued  their  succession,  under  various 
and  great  difficulties,  that  a  free,  valid,  and  purely  eccle- 
siastical episcopacy  may,  from  them,  pass  into  the  western 
world.  As  to  any  thing  which  I  receive  here,  it  has  no 
influence  on  me,  and  never  has  had  any.  I  indeed  think 
it  my  duty  to  conduct  the  matter  in  such  a  manner  as 
shall  risk  the  salaries  which  the  missionaries  in  Connecti- 
cut receive  from  the  society  here  as  little  as  possible  ;  and 
I  persuade  myself  it  may  be  done,  so  as  to  make  that  risk 
next  to  nothing.  With  respect  to  my  own  salary,  if  the 
society  choose  to  withdraw  it,  I  am  ready  to  part  with  it. 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  some  consequence  to  me  that  this 
affair  be  determined  as  soon  as  possible.  I  am  anxious  to 
return  to  America  this  autumn  ;  and  the  winter  is  fast  ap- 
proaching, when  the  voyage  will  be  attended  with  double 
inconvenieiice  and  danger,  and  the  expense  of  continuing 


OBJECTION  TO  IHS  CONSECRATION.         157 

here  another  winter  is  greater  than  will  suit  ray  purse.  I 
know  you  will  give  me  the  earliest  intelligence  in  your 
power;  and  I  shall  patiently  wait  till  I  hear  from  you. 
My  most  respectful  regards  attend  the  right  reverend  gen- 
tlemen under  whose  consideration  this  husiness  will  come  ; 
and  as  there  are  none  but  the  most  open  and  candid  inten- 
tions on  my  part,  so  I  doubt  not  of  the  most  candid  and 
fair  consti-uction  of  my  conduct  on  their  part."*" 

One  more  hindrance  was  interposed  to  the  fulfilment 
of  these  wishes.  When  the  Scotch  bishops  had  resolved 
to  consecrate,  an  earnest  appeal  was  sent  to  them  from  an 
American  clergyman,  whose  own  views,  as  it  afterwards 
appeared,  would  be  in  some  measure  thwarted  by  the  con- 
secration of  Dr.  iSeabury  ;  but  wlio  now  assured  them  that 
he  desired  "  to  divert  a  heavy  stroke  from  episcopacy, 
which  was  likely  to  sutler  through  this  consecration," 
which,  he  asserted,  was  "  against  the  earnest  and  sound 
advice  of  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York,  to 
whom  Dr.  Seabury's  design  was  communicated,  they  not 
thinking  him  a  fit  person,  especially  as  he  was  actively 
and  deeply  engaged  against  congress ;  that  he  would  by 
this  forward  step  render  episcopacy  suspected  there,  the 
people  not  having  had  time,  after  a  total  derangement  of 
their  civil  aii'airs,  to  consider  as  yet  of  ecclesiastical  ;  and 
if  it  were  unexpectedly  and  rashly  introduced  among  them 
at  the  instigation  of  a  few  clergy  only  that  remain,  with- 
out their  being  consulted,  would  occasion  it  to  be  entirely 
slighted,  unless  wdth  the  approbation  of  the  state  they  be- 
long to  ;  Avhich  is  what  they  are  laboring  after  just  now, 
having  called  several  provincial  meetings  together  this 
autumn,  to  settle  some  preliminary  articles  of  a  Protestant 
episcopal  Church,  as  near  as  may  be  to  that  of  England 

or  Scotland See,"    he  concludes,   "  if  you  value 

your  own  peace  and  advantage  as  a  Christian  society,  that 
your  bishops  meddle  not  in  this  consecration,"  &c.t 

"When  this  letter  reached  Scotland,  Dr.  Seabury  was 
there.  His  sincerity  and  zeal  convinced  Bishop  Skinner 
of  his  great  fitness  for  the  post  to  which  he  was  designed. 

*  MS.  Seabury  papers.  f  Ibid. 


158  AMERICAN   CHURCIt. 

The  concurrence  of  the  clergy  of  Connecticut  was  easily 
established  ;  and  Dr.  Berkeley  having  ascertained  that  the 
English  primate,  though  he  could  not  give  to  it  a  formal 
sanction,  was  yet  by  no  means  hostile  to  the  step,*  all  dif- 
ficulties were  removed,  and  he  was  solemnly  admitted 
into  the  episcopate  at  Aberdeen  on  the  14th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1784,  by  three  bishops  of  the  Scottish  Church  (the 
whole  college  then  consisting  but  of  four) — namely,  Bishops 
^Kilgour,  Petre,  and  Skinner,  of  Aberdeen,  E-oss,  and  Mo- 
ray. After  his  consecration,  which  was  in  the  Scottish 
form,  the  new  bishop  signed,  on  behalf  of  his  brethren  in 
America,  certain  articles  which  might  serve  as  a  basis  for 
permanent  and  friendly  intercourse  between  the  sister 
Churches.  Shortly  after,  he  returned  to  London,  whence 
on  the  first  of  March  he  was  about  to  sail  for  America  in 
the  ship  Triumph,  "  the  master  of  which  Avas  his  particu- 
lar acquaintance  ;  a  friendly  obliging  man  and  a  good 
Churchman,  and  very  anxious  to  have  the  honor  of  carry- 
ing over  the  Bishop  of  all  America." 

By  the  "  latter  end  of  June"  Bishop  Seabury  was 
again  in  Connecticut.  His  "  reception  from  the  inha- 
bitants" was  "friendly,"  and  he  "  met  with  no  disrespect."! 
The  Presbyterian  ministers  appeared  to  be  rather  alarmed  ; 
and,  in  consequence  of  his  arrival,  assumed  and  gave 
to  one  another  the  style  and  title  of  bishops,  which  formerly 
they  reprobated  as  a  remnant  of  popery.  On  the  3rd  of 
August  he  met  his  clergy,  and  "joyful  indeed  was  the 
meeting."  The  letter  from  the  good  bishops  and  the  con- 
cordat were  laid  before  them,  "  and  cordially  received." 
Only  as  to  one  article,  which  engaged  them  to  receive  the 
Scotch  form  for  the  admistration  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  it 
was  thought  best  to  wait  for  a  season  until  by  preaching 

*  Dr.  Berkeley  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  that  ap- 
plication liad  been  made  by  Dr.  Seabury  to  tlie  Scottisli  bishops  for 
consecration,  and  begged  that,  if  liis  Grace  thought  the  bisliops  here 
ran  any  risk  in  complying  with  Seabury's  request,  he  would 
be  so  good  as  to  give  Dr.  Berkeley  notice  immediately ;  but  if 
his  Grace  was  satisfied  that  there  was  no  danger,  there  was  no 
occasion  to  give  any  answer.  No  answer  came."  A  ws.  note  of  Bp. 
Skinner's  on  Dr.  Seabury's  letter  of  application. 
f  Ms  l;etter  of  Bp.  Seabury  to  Bp.  Skinner. 


tiRst  con\t:ntion.  159 

and  conversation  tlie  minds  of  llic  cominnnicanls  wore  pre- 
pared  ibr  receiving  the  iivols  office.  Tliey  leared,  too,  to  en- 
gourage  by  their  example  a  disposition  to  effect  changes  in 
the  Liturgy,  which  had  showed  itself  in  the  south.  Such 
was  Bishop  Seabury's  entrance  upon  the  duties  of  his  ofiice. 

He  arrived  at  a  critic;d  lime  for  the  American  Church. 
The  first  general  convention  was  soon  to  meet  at  Philadel- 
phia ;  and  the  Imowlcdge  that  a  bishop  already  pre- 
sided over  one  of  their  Uhurehes,  greatly  strengthened 
the  hands  of  those  who  desired  at  once  to  apply  ibr  the 
episcopate. 

Tlie  first  American  convention  met  according  to  ap- 
pointment, in  October  1785,  at  Philadelphia;  seven 
out  of  the  thirteen  states  sent  to  it  deputies  both 
clerical  and  lay,  and  they  entered  at  once  on  their 
important  duties.  Three  leading  subjects  claimed  their 
chief  attention.  The  first  of  these  was  the  general  ec- 
clesiastical constitution  of  the  meditated  nnion  ;  the  se- 
cond, the  formation  of  a  common  liturgy  ;  the  third,  the 
steps  to  be  taken  for  obtaining  an  American  episcopate. 

Upon  the  two  first  questions  warm  discussion    arose. 
The    various    tempers    of  the  eastern    and   the  southern 
states  were  soon  displayed.     Thus,  on  the  general  terms 
of  union,  the  two    parties  disagreed  ;    one    proposing    to 
declare  the  bishop  ex-officio  president  of  the  convention  ; 
the  others  fearful  of  the  bishop's  power,  and  so  denying 
him  this  right.     The  grounds  too  of  this  difference  lay 
deep.     The  southern    states    would    have    restrained  the 
bishop  from  all  rule  ;  made  him  subject  to  his  own  conven- 
tion ;  and  distinguished  him  from  other  presbyters  only  by 
his  possession  of  the  powers  of  ordaining  and   confirming. 
The  eastern  states,  with  a  more  instructed  faith,  truly  ac- 
knowledged the  bishop  as  possessing,  by   the  appointment 
of  Christ,  the  charge  of  spiritual  government.     Their  ten- 
dency, indeed,  lay  strongly  to  the  opposite  extreme.     They 
would  not  only  have  given  to  the  bishop  spiritual  rule,  but 
would   have  deprived  the  laity  of  that  power  of  co-ordi- 
nate deliberation  and  assent,  which  appear  to  have  been  ni 
the  earliest  times  their  Christian  birthright.     The  plans  of 
the  eastern  Churclmien  would  have  excluded  from  conven- 


IGO  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

tions  all  lay  deputies,  and  confined  deliberation  on  things 
ecclesiastical  to  those  in  holy  orders. 

The  like  difiei-ence  was  shown  in  the  revision  of  the ' 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.  While  one  of  the  Virginian  de- 
puties proposed  to  omit  the  fourfirst  petitions  of  the  Litany, 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  direct  acknowledgment  oi'  the 
Trinity  in  the  adorable  Godhead  ;  and  whilst  in  Virginia 
generally  the  rule  most  objected  to  in  all  the  Prayer-book 
was  that  which  allowed  tlie  minister  to  repel  from  the  Eu- 
charist notorious  evil-livers  :  the  wishes  of  the  eastern 
states  would  have  restored  to  the  Communion-service  some 
of  those  early  devotions  which  the  peculiar  aspect  of  their 
times  had  led  the  Anglican  reformers  most  wisely  to  omit. 

Such  differences  boded  ill  for  the  result  of  the  conven- 
tion ;  but  the  meek  wisdom  of  its  president  brought  it  to  a 
safe  and  harmonious  conclusion.  Doubtful  things  were  left 
for  discussion  when  their  body  should  be  fully  organised. 
Wliether  the  bishop  should  preside  or  not,  remained  for  the 
present  undetermined  ;  but  the  point  was  at  once  conceded 
in  practice,  and  afterwards  adopted  willingly  as  law.  A 
proposed  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  varying  as  little  from 
the  English  ritual  as  the  temper  of  the  council  would  al- 
low, was  suggested  to  the  various  state  conventions  ;  and 
the  time  thus  gained  saved  the  Cliurch  from  the  direct 
proposal  of  many  alterations,  which,  if  they  had  been  all 
at  once  resisted  stifHy,  would  have  been  as  hotly  urged 
upon  the  other  side. 

On  the  measures  to  be  taken  for  obtaining  the  episco- 
pate the  convention  happily  agreed.  Bishop  Seabury  had 
declined,  with  his  clergy,  attending  its  session,  from  a  fear 
that  it  would  carry  measures  to  which  his  principles  would 
not  allow  him  to  assent.  The  southern  states  were  known 
to  hold  loose  opinions  upon  church  matters,  and  expected  evils 
were  greatly  exaggerated.  "  I  have  thought  it  my  duty," 
writes  a  clerical  correspondent  of  Bishop  Skinner,  in  1786, 
"  to  advise  you  and  the  college  of  bishops  of  the  ancient 
Church  of  Scotland,  of  the  tendency  of  the  bill  just  brouglit 
into  the  House  oi'  Lords  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
to  enable  the  English  bishops  to  consecrate  for  foreign 
countries,  viz.  the  overthrow  of  Bishop  Seabury  of  Connec- 


VARIOUS   OPINIONS   IN    CONVENTION.  161 

ticut.  Dr.  Smith,  Dr.  White,  and  Dr.  Provoost,  three  So- 
ciuians,  have  been  recommended  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  for  consecration  ;  the  first  to  be  Bishop  of 
Maryland,  the  second  of  Pennsylvania,  the  third  of 
New- York,  who  are  to  be  answerable  to  a  consistory,  com- 
posed of  presbyters  and  lay  delegates,"  All  this  was 
gross  exaggeration  ;  but  Bisiiop  Seabnry  had  ground  for 
apprehension.  The  doctrinal  tenets  of  one  oi' the  two  first 
elected  bishops  were  probably  not  wholly  orthodox  ;  and 
Dr.  Smith,  who  was  generally  named  for  the  episcopate, 
was  an  ambitious  arid  dangerous  man,  with  low  views  of 
the  Church,  and  great  self-conlidence.  Accoi'dingly  the 
bishop  thought  it  safer  to  remain  away  from  the  conven- 
tion, writing  an  apology*  for  not  appearing,  and  explaining 
plainly  and  fully  his  sentiments  concerning  their  general 
mode  of  procedure,  and  especially  their  degradation  of  the 
episcopal  dignity.  But  though  he  was  not  pi'esent,  his  ex- 
perience helped  to  guide  their  decision.  It  was  at  once 
resolved,  that  the  succession  should  be  obtained,  if  possible, 
at  the  hands  of  the  English  rather  than  the  Scottish  bi- 
shops,! To  this  end  an  address  of  convention  to  the  Eng- 
lish bench  was  drawn  up  and  signed,  and  a  sub-committee 
named  to  communicate  with  the  archbishop  ;  while,  to 
remove  all  political  objections,  the  deputies  applied  to  the 
executive  within  the  various  states  for  a  certilied  assent  to 
the  request  now  urged.  ^ 

These  pomts  being  settled,  and  a  general  ecclesiastical 

*  MS.  Letter  of  Bp.  Seabury  to  Bp.  Skinner. 

■|-  My  attention  haa  been  called,  by  a  paper  in  the  Christian 
Observer,  August  1845,  to  a  letter  from  Granville  Sliarpe,  Esq.,  in 
17SG,  in  which  he  states  that  this  decision  was  the  result  of  his  ad- 
vice to  the  convention.  That  great  and  good  man  had  long  been 
zealous  in  the  great  cause  of  American  episcopacy,  and  had  labored 
diligently  with  the  archbishop  on  the  one  .side,  and  las  American 
friends  on  the  other,  to  obtain  the  succession  for  the  West.  His  bio- 
grapher, however  (Prince  Hoarc,  Esq.),  overstates,  I  think,  liis  ac- 
tual services  in  saying  of  them,  "  Few,  if  any,  examples  can  be  found 
of  more  momentous  or  more  successful  exertions  in  the  service  of  the 
Chui'ch.  By  the  active  intelligence  of  a  single  person,  the  mutual 
prejudices  and  doubts  of  the  two  countries  were  removed,  and  the 
functions  of  the  episcopal  order  duly  established  in  America."  Life 
of  G-ranville  Sharpe,  part  ii.  c.  vii.  p.  231. 


162  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

constitution  ratified,  which  provided  for  a  triennial  con- 
vention, to  consist,  besides  the  bishops,  of  deputies,  not 
more  than  four,  clerical  and  lay,  from  the  Church  in  every 
state,  who  should  vote  state  by  state,  each  order  possessing 
a  negative  upon  the  other,  the  clergy  of  each  state  being 
subject  only  to  its  own  ecclesiastical  authorities, — the 
council  adjourned  until  the  ibllowing  June,  when  it  hoped 
to  receive  the  answer  of  the  English  bishops. 

The  address  of  the  convention,  with  certificates  from 
the  executives  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and 
New- York,  was  forwarded  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, through  the  American  minister.  The  part  taken  by 
Mr.  Adams  is  highly  to  his  credit.  Not  himself  an  episco- 
palian, and  so  well  aware  of  all  the  prejudices  which  his 
conduct  might  excite,  that  he  deemed  it  "  bold,  daring, 
and  hazardous  to  himself  and  his,"*  he  made,  without 
hesitation,  the  required  address  to  the  archbishop.  Here, 
again,  the  consecration  of  Dr.  Seabury  had  greatly  pre- 
pared the  way.  He  had  been  well  received  in  Ainerica, 
and  it  was  plain  that  if  the  mother  Church  continued  to 
refuse  the  boon,  she  Avould  efl'ectually  alienate  her  western 
daughter.  The  archbishop's  answer  was  received  by  the 
committee  in  the  following  spring.  It  expressed,  on  his 
part  and  on  that  of  all  the  English  bishops,  an  anxious 
readiness  to  grant  the  episcopal  succession  to  America,  but 
delayed  giving  a  specific  pledge  until  they  had  seen  the 
intended  alterations  in  the  liturgy  and  the  proposed  eccle- 
siastical constitution.  "  While  we  are  anxious,"  they  con- 
cluded, "  to  give  every  proof  not  only  of  our  brotherly  afl'ec- 
tion,  but  of  our  facility  in  forwarding  your  wishes,  we  can- 
not but  be  extremely  cautious  lest  we  should  be  the  instru- 
ments of  establishing  an  ecclesiastical  system  which  will 
be  called  a  branch  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  after- 
wards may  possibly  appear  to  have  departed  from  it  essen- 
tially either  in  doctrine  or  in  discipline." 

Another  letter  soon  followed,  v^^ritten  after  the  receipt 
of  the  amended  liturgy,  and  pointing  out  some  changes  in 
it   with   which   the    English   bishops    were    dissatisfied. 

*  Letter  to  Bp.  Wliito,  Oct.  27,  1814. 


fc 


ENGLISH   bishops'    REMONSTRANCE.  163 

Amongst  these  were  some  uiuiecessary  verbal  alterations, 
and  the  disuse  of  the  Athanasian  Creed.  But  that  to 
which  they  mainly  objected  was  the  omission  of  the  Nicene 
Creed,  and  one  clause  in  the  Apostles'  ("  He  descended 
into  hell").  With  one  provision  also  of  the  constitution 
they  found  fault,  from  its  seeming  to  subject  bishops  to 
trial  by  the  laity  and  the  inferior  clergy ;  and  they  sug- 
gested hints  as  to  the  care  that  should  be  taken  in  the 
choice  of  those  who  were  to  be  elected  bishops,  reminding 
the  convention  that  the  credit  of  the  English  Church  would 
be  at  stake  in  the  pi'osperity  of  this  her  daughter  branch. 
On  these  points,  therefore,  they  expressed  their  earnest  hope 
that  the  ensuing  convention  would  give  them  satisfaction, 
in  which  expectation  they  would  at  once  prepare  a  bill,  by 
which  the  necessary  powers  would  be  imparted  to  tliem. 
Before  this  letter  reached  America,  the  convention  had  as- 
sembled and  revised  the  constitution  in  the  very  point  to 
which  the  bishops  had  objected,  but  the  alterations  in  the 
liturgy  remained  untouched.  Great  fault  had  been  found 
with  them  by  all  the  more  consistent  Churchmen  of  Ame- 
rica. "  I  learn  from  others,"  writes  Bishop  Seabury  to  liis 
friends  the  Scottish  bishops,  "that  at  this  convention  they 
have  discarded  the  use,  at  least  left  it  discretional,  of  the 
Athanasian  and  Nicene  Creeds,  and  the  observation  of 
saints'-days  ;  omitted  the  article  of  the  descent  into  liell, 
in  the  Apostles'  Creed;  reduced  the  Thirty-nine  articles  to 
twenty  ;  made  such  alterations  in  the  liturgy  and  offices  as 
makes  a  new  Prayer-book  necessary." 

On  receiving  the  remonstrance  from  the  English  bishops, 
it  was  resolved,  by  the  committee  charged  with  the  nejro- 
tiation,  that  these  points  sliould  again  be  taken  into  full 
considei'ation ;  and  for  this  purpose  the  convention  was 
called  together  in  October.  There  was  a  general  wish  to 
satisfy  the  English  prelates,  of  which  the  friends  of  peace 
made  careful  use.  They  might,  indeed,  receive  the  true 
succession  from  the  Scottish  bishops,  and  by  the  Danes 
it  had  been  already  ofTered  ;  but  the  whole  body  earnestly 
desired  to  receive  it  from  the  Church  M'hich  had  originally 
sent  them  forth.  In  this  spirit  they  entered  on  the  ques- 
tion, and,  after  full  debate,  resolved  to  restore  to  its  place 


164  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  clause  they  had  omitted  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  to 
replace  in  their  liturgy  that  of  Nicaea.  On  some  minor 
points,  and  as  to  the  liturgical  employment  of  the  Athana- 
sian  Creed,  they  still  affirmed  their  former  sentence. 

With  these  concessions  they  doubted  not  the  English 
prelates  would  be  satisfied,  and  they  proceeded  therefore 
to  sign  the  testimonials  of  three  presbyters,  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam White,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Provoost,  and  the  Rev.  David 
Griffith,  vi^ho  had  been  elected  to  the  office  of  a  bishop  by 
the  conventions  of  Pennsylvania,  New-York,  and  Virginia. 
Early  in  the  foUowmg  month.  Dr.  White  and  Dr.  Provoost 
sailed  for  England.  A  painful  cause  is  given  for  Dr.  Grif- 
fith's absence  from  their  company.  He  was  too  poor  to 
bear  the  necessary  cost  of  such  a  journey,  and  the  Virginian 
Church  had  not  raised  funds  to  forward  him  upon  his  way. 
On  Wednesday  the  29th  of  November,  the  bishops  elect 
arrived  in  London,  and  on  the  following  Monday  they  were 
presented  by  Mr.  Adams,  the  American  ambassador,  to  the 
Ai'chbishop  at  Lambeth.  Several  interviews  succeeded. 
The  conclusions  of  the  convention,  and  the  testimonials  of 
the  bishops,  satisfied  the  English  prelates ;  and  after  a  gra- 
tifying audience  of  the  king,  on  Sunday,  the  4th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1787,  in  the  Archiepiscopal  Chapel  of  Lambeth,  these 
two  presbyters  of  the  Church  of  America  wore  consecrated 
bishops  by  the  two  archbishops  and  the  bishops  of  Bath 
and  Wells  and  Peterborough.  Thus,  at  last,  did  England 
grant  to  the  daughter  Church  this  great  and  necessary 
boon. 

For  almost  two  whole  centuries  had  she,  by  evil  coun- 
sels, been  persuaded  to  witiihold  it,  until,  as  it  would  seem, 
the  fierce  struggle  of  the  war  of  independence,  and  the  loss 
of  these  great  colonies,  chastised  her  long  neglect,  and  by  a 
new  and  utterly  unlooked-for  issue,  led  her  to  discharge 
this  claim  of  right.  Awful,  doubtless,  was  the  hour  to 
these  two  when  the  holy  office  was  conferred  upon  them ; 
when,  at  the  hands  of  him,  whom  Bishop  White,  full  of 
affectionate  respect  for  his  mother  Church,  calls  this  "great 
and  good  archbishop,"  they  were  set  apart  to  bear  into  the 
western  wilderness  the  likeness  and  the  office  of  tlie  first 
apostles.    Solemn  must  have  been  their  landuig  on  the  7th 


LANDING    OF    THE    BISHOPS.  165 

of  April,  the  afternoon  of  Easter  Sunday  (1787),  upon  the 
shores  of  their  own  land,  as  the  espeeial  Avituesses  of  that 
resurrection  of  which  "the  holy  Church  throughout  all  the 
world"  was  on  that  day  keeping  glad  remembrance, — the 
especial  stewards  of  those  mysteries  which  she  was  on  that 
day  dispensing  unto  all  her  faitlii'ul  children. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Convention  assembles — Case  of  Dr.  Bass — Bishop  Seabnry  joins  the 
Convention — The  Liturgy — First  and  succeeding  consecrations — 
Period  of  depression — Its  causes — Ecclesiastical  constitution — 
Parish — Diocese — Convention — Laity  in  convention — Anglo-Saxon 
usage — Difficulties  of  true  organization  in  America — Neglect  of 
the  mother  country. 

The  Church  assembled  iii  convention  after  the  arrival  of 
the  bishops  at  Philadelphia,  July  28,  1787.  For  the  first 
time  it  was  gathered  together  in  the  full  likeness  of  that 
council  to  wliich  "  the  apostles  and  elders  came  together 
at  Jerusalem."*'  For  now,  as  then,  it  met  with  bishops 
at  its  head,  with  presbyters  and  deacons,  each  in  their  own 
order,  ministering  vnider  them,  and  with  the  laity,  "  the 
multitude  of  the  faithful,"  taking  solemn  counsel  for  the 
welfare  of  their  Zion. 

There  was  great  need  in  that  synod  of  meekness  and 
heavenly  wisdom.  The  minds  of  men  were  still  angry  and 
unsettled.  They  knew  little  of  the  principles  on  which 
they  were  to  act  ;  and  points  of  the  utmost  delicacy  and 
moment  were  sure  to  come  mider  consideration.  On  the 
third  day  of  their  meeting,  after  some  preliminary  business, 
an  application  from  the  clergy  of  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire  gave  rise  to  much  discussion.  The  "  act"  of 
these  states,  after  setting  forth  their  "  gratitude  to  God  for 
having  lately  blessed  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America  with  a  complete  and  entire 
ministry,"  proceeded  to  declare  that  to  secure  for  their 
people  "  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  those  offices,  the 
administration  of  which  belongs  to  the  highest  ord^r  of  the 
ministry,  and  to  encourage  and  promote  a  union  of  the 
whole  Episcopal  Church  in  their  states,  and  to  perfect  and 

*  Acts  iv.  6. 


BISHOP    SEABURY    JOINS    THE    CONVENTION.  167 

compact  this  mystical  body  of  Christ,  we  do  hereby  nomi- 
nate, elect,  and  appoint  the  Rev.  Edward  Bass,  a  presbyter 
of  the  Church,  to  be  our  bishop  :  and  we  do  promise  and 
engage  to  receive  him  as  such,  and  to  render  to  him  all 
canonical  obedience  and  submission,  when  canonically  con- 
secrated and  invested  with  the  apostolic  office  and  powers. 
And  we  now  address  the  right  reverend  the  bishops  in  the 
states  of  Connecticut,  New- York,  and  Pennsylvania,  pray- 
ing their  united  assistance  in  consecrating  our  said  brother, 
and  canonically  investing  him  with  the  apostolic  office  and 
powers." 

This  address  brought  at  once  before  the  convention  the 
relation  of  Bishop  Seabury  to  its  own  body,  and  to  the  two 
bishops  of  the  English  line.  Happily  Bishop  Provoost  was 
not  at  Philadelphia,  and  it  was  therefore  left  to  the  mode- 
rate and  healing  spirit  of  his  brother  bishop  to  frame  an 
answer  to  the  clei-gy  of  the  east.  The  convention  first 
solemnly  recorded  its  conviction  of  the  rightful  consecration 
of  the  Bishop  of  Connecticut ;  and  afterwards  resolved  that 
a  "complete  order  of  bishops,  derived  as  well  under  the 
English  as  the  Scottish  line  of  Episcopacy,  now  subsisted 
within  the  United  States ;  and  that  they  were  fully  com- 
petent to  every  proper  act  and  duty  of  a  bishop's  office." 
It  further  proceeded  to  express  its  wish  that  these  three 
bishops  (the  number  always  held  canonically  necessary  for 
a  rightful  consecration)  should  proceed  to  consecrate  the 
elected  bishop  of  the  eastern  clergy,  so  soon  as  the  New- 
England  Churches  should  have  agreed  in  convention  to 
articles  of  disciple  and  union  with  the  general  body. 

To  allow  time  for  this  union,  the  convention,  after  a 
session  of  ten  days,  agreed  to  a  two-months'  adjournment, 
having  first  determined  that  as  soon  as  the  united  Church 
possessed  three  bishops,  the  members  of  that  order  should 
constitute  a  separate  house  from  that  of  the  clerical  and 
lay  deputies. 

On  the  29th  of  September  1787,  the  adjourned  session 
opened ;  and,  to  the  joy  of  all,  the  attendance  of  Bishop 
Seabury  and  two  of  his  New-England  clergy  was  announced. 
Their  presence  was  indeed  important  ;  lor  it  not  only  se- 
cured the   union  of  tlie   Church   throughout  the   several 


168  AAfERICAN    CHURCH. 

states,  but  it  brought  to  those  counsels  by  which  their 
infant  institutions  must  be  formed,  the  aid  of  principles 
which  were  most  wanting  in  the  southern  states.  Amongst 
them  the  prevailing  tone,  both  as  to  discipline  and  doctrine, 
was  low  and  uncertain.  Hence  had  arisen  the  desire  of 
removing  from  the  opening  of  the  litany  the  addresses  to 
the  blessed  Ti-iiiity.  Hence  their  jealousy  of  even  the 
lightest  discipline.  Hence,  too,  it  happened  that  the  lay 
deputy  sent  by  Virginia  to  convention  was  an  ordained 
presbyter,  Avho,  in  the  time  of  the  Church's  sufferings,  had 
renounced  his  orders.  And  thus,  all  through  this  conven- 
tion, he  who,  in  purer  times,  would  have  been  marked  out 
for  spiritual  censure,  took,  without  doubt  or  remonstrance, 
a  leading  part  in  fashioning  the  discipline  and  order  of 
their  infant  communion.  To  a  temper  thus  bordering  on 
latitudinarian  views,  Bishop  "White,  if  he  had  stood  alone, 
would,  from  natural  kindness,  and  perhaps  from  personal 
inclination,  have  been  too  much  disposed  to  yield,  and  some 
fatal  bias  might  have  been  given  to  their  earliest  institu- 
tions ;  but  in  the  presence  of  Bishop  Seabury  and  those 
about  him,  a  check  was  provided  on  such  innovations. 
With  the  strongest  attachment  to  the  distinctive  articles 
of  the  Christian  faith,  the  New-England  clergy  held, 
as  we  have  seen,  most  firmly  to  the  model  of  apostolical 
order  ;  and  in  these  counteracting  tendencies  was  the 
best  hope  of  the  convention  coming  to  a  sale  and  sound 
conclusion. 

This  difl'erence  of  views  between  the  east  and  south 
was  seen  at  once.  Before  the  eastern  clergy  gave  in  their 
adhesion  to  the  articles  of  union,  they  required  that,  by  the 
alteration  of  the  third,  there  should  be  given  to  the  board 
of  bishops  the  power  of  originating  acts  for  the  concurrence 
of  the  lower  house,  with  a  negative  on  their  conclusions. 
The  first  point  was  easily  conceded.  The  second,  for  the 
present,  was  made  the  subject  of  a  compromise.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  non-assent  of  the  bishops  should  negative 
all  acts  to  which  four-fifths  of  the  lower  house  did  not 
still  adhere.  The  absolute  ne2:ative  was  referred  to  the 
collective  judgment  of  the  several  diocesan  conventions. 
Upon  this  agreement  Bishop  Seabury,  and  the  three  New- 


DANGER    FROM    LATITUDINARIAN    BIAS.  169 

England  presbyters,  gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the  general 
constitution,  and  took  their  seats  in  the  convention. 

Important  matters  came  at  once  into  discussion.  The 
proposed  Prayer-book,  drawn  up  in  1785,  had  kindled  a 
flame  of  opposition.  Some  were  olFended  at  the  alterations 
of  the  English  ritual,  and  more  at  the  want  of  alteration. 
Its  compilers  had  unwisely  printed  a  large  edition,  and 
from  this  were  understood  to  regard  it  rather  as  a  settled 
than  a  projected  form.  The  lower  house  accordingly  en- 
tered with  some  warmth  on  this  discussion.  Instead  of 
proposing,  as  before,  to  take  the  existing  liturgy,  and  merely 
alter  in  it  what  required  adjustment,  they,  the  more  com- 
pletely to  dismiss  the  obnoxious  book,  appointed  committees 
"  to  prepare  a  litany,"  "  to  prepare  a  communion-service," 
"a  morning  and  evening  prayer,"  and  other  "  offices." 

In  this  they  ran  no  slight  peril.  Scarcely  with  any 
thing  beside  is  the  well-being  of  the  Church  bound  up  so 
closely  as  with  the  lull  orthodoxy  of  its  liturgies.  On  this 
depends,  not  only  the  unity  of  all  her  children,  but  also,  in 
great  measure,  their  whole  religious  character.  Hence 
from  the  earliest  time  these  have  been  a  matter  of  especial 
care.  By  one  Council*  it  was  ordered,  "  that  the  prayers, 
prefaces,  impositions  of  hands,  which  are  confirmed  by 
the  synod,  be  observed  and  used  by  all  men  ;"  and  an- 
other! gives  the  reason  for  this  order,  "  lest  through  igno- 
rance or  carelessness,  any  thing  contrary  to  the  faith  should 
be  vented  or  uttered  before  God,  or  ofTered  up  to  him  in  the 
church." 

In  this  wholesome  dread,  during  times  of  purity,  change 
had  always  been  brought  cautiously  and  with  a  sparing 
hand  into  the  older  offices.  Nor  was  there  a  more  certain 
sign  and  instrument  of  increasing  corruption  than  when  the 
public  liturgies,  which  had  been  first  veiled  from  common 
sight  by  the  mystery  of  a  learned  language,  began  to  em- 
body largely  the  errors  of  a  later  time.  These,  however, 
were  rather  additions  than  substitutions.  So  that  even  in 
the  worst  times  the  golden  thread  of  primitive  truth  might 
be  traced  by  the  spiritual  eye  through  all  the  subtle  entan- 

"  Con.  Carth.  can.  106.  f  Council  of  Milan,  can.  12. 

8 


170  AMERICAN    CHURCH, 

gleraent  of  more  modem  error.  The  endeavor  of  our  own 
reformers  was,  to  keep  this  precious  thread  unbroken,  whilst 
they  freed  it  from  the  I'alse  inventions  by  which  it  was  well- 
nigh  concealed.  The  old  books  of  common  English  use  had 
been  taken  by  the  bishops  and  doctors  to  whom  this  work 
was  entrusted  ;  and  from  them  the  new  insertions  which 
had  crept  gradually  in  with  the  spread  of  Romish  errors 
were  cast  out,  that  the  oldest  offices  might  still  remain 
amongst  us,  and  set  the  tone  of  such  additions  as  the  change 
of  customs  and  of  times  required.  On  this  point  there  had 
been  a  long  and  anxious  struggle  between  English  Chui'ch- 
men  and  the  Puritans  ;  for  these  wished  for  new  prayers, 
whilst  the  true  sons  of  the  old  English  Church  strove  to 
retain  this  sure  mark  and  instrument  of  their  oneness  Avith 
the  body  of  Christ  from  the  beginning,  that  they  spoke  in 
praise  and  prayer,  and  in  intercession  and  confession,  as  far 
as  might  be,  in  the  same  accents  in  which  their  forefathers 
had  worshipped  (xod  from  the  time  when  the  little  flock 
were  gathered  in  "  an  upper  chamber,"  where  "  the  doors 
were  shut  for  fear  of  the  Jews." 

The  existence  of  such  a  liturgy  was  put  at  hazard  in 
America  ;  but,  by  God's  blessing,  the  danger  was  averted. 
The  house  of  bishops  was  now  duly  constituted  ;  and  in  the 
continued  absence  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  it  was  com- 
posed of  Bishops  Scabury  and  White.  Their  first  entrance 
on  their  duties  afforded  a  hopeful  promise  for  the  issue  ;  i'or 
as  meekness  ever  waits  upon  true  wisdom,  there  was  a  to- 
ken of  wise  counsel  in  Bishop  White's  instant  cession  of 
precedence  to  his  eastern  brother  on  the  ground  of  his  seni- 
ority of  consecration.  Their  hai'monious  action  turned 
aside  the  danger  ;  they  took  as  their  guide  the  old  offices  of 
their  communion  ;  and  making  only  needful  changes,  by 
degrees  won  over  the  general  voice  on  nearly  every  point. 

Bishop  White  has  recorded  the  remark  of  a  by-stander, 
which  strikingly  illustrates  the  working  of  more  thoughtful 
minds  at  that  important  crisis  : — "  When  I  hear  these  things 
I  look  back  to  the  origin  of  the  Prayer-book,  and  represent 
to  my  mind  the  spirits  of  its  venerable  compilers  ascending 
to  heaven  in  the  flames  of  martyrdom  that  consumed  their 
bodies.     I  then  look  at  the  improvers  of  this  book  in  ...  . 


CHANGES    IN    THE    PRAYER-BOOK.  171 

.  and and The  consequence  is,  that  I  am  not 

sanguine  in  my  expectations  of  the  meditated  changes  in 
the  liturgy." 

The  character  of  the  chief  changes  which  were  made 
is  curious  and  instructive.  They  show  the  great  peril  of 
attempting  to  improve  such  fixed  and  ascertained  forms  ; 
for  they  are  marked  by  a  tendency  to  opposite  extremes. 
Thus,  on  the  one  side,  there  were  struck  out  from  the 
Prayer-book  the  Athanasian  Creed  and  the  absolution  in 
the  Visitation  of  the  Sick  ;  whilst  the  use  of  the  sign  of  the 
cross  in  baptism  ;  and  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost"  in 
the  ordinal,  are  left  to  the  choice  of  the  minister.  Thus, 
^  also,  whilst  to  the  question,  "  What  is  the  inward  part  or 
thing  signified  in  the  Lord's  supper  ?"  the  answer  of  the 
English  Catechism,  "  The  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  which 
are  verily  and  indeed  taken  and  received  by  the  faithful 
in  the  Lord's  supper,"  is  changed  into  "  The  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  wliich  are  spiritKalhi  taken  and  received 
by  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper ;"  at  the  same 
time,  upon  the  other  side,  in  the  Otfice  for  the  Holy  Com- 
munion there  were  inserted  the  prayers  of  invocation  and 
oblation  which  are  contained  in  the  earliest  liturgies.  These  ^ 
had  been  retauied  in  the  first  Engli,sh  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  put  forth  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VL  by  "  the  arch- 
bishop and  other  learned  and  discreet  divines  ;"*  but  upon 
its  subsequent  revision  they  were  both  omitted  ;  their  es- 
sential parts,  as  our  reformers  thought,  being  found  in  other 
parts  of  the  service,  whilst  their  use  must  prove  dangerous 
at  a  time  when  popish  superstition  had  obscured  that  holy 
mystery,  and  lowered  its  spiritual  reality  to  a  gross  and 
carnal  conceit.  In  the  ancient  Scottish  Prayer-book,  which 
was  compiled  at  a  later  period,  these  forms  had  been  re- 
stored ;  and  in  it  their  use  was  familiar  to  Bishop  Seabury. 
He  was  disposed  to  ovei-value  their  presence  ;  hardly,  as 
he  owned  to  Bishop  Wliite,  considering  the  service  from 
which  they  were  absent  as  "  amounting  strictly  to  a  con- 
secration." He  therefore  pressed  earnestly  their  restor- 
ation.    From  his  brother  bishop  he  met  with  no  opposition  ; 

*  A.D.  15t8.  Statutes  at  large,  vol.  ii.  p.  393. 


172  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

Bishop  AVhite  having  always  admired  "  the  beauty  of  those 
ancient  forms,  and  seeing  no  superstition  in  them."*  No 
remark  of  any  sort  was  made  on  their  insertion  in  the  lower 
house  ;  and  they  accordingly  form  part  of  the  American 
Prayer-book,  t 

One  other  important  change  came  into  debate.  From 
the  services  of  "the  proposed  Prayer-book"  had  been  struck 
out  the  whole  Nicene  Creed,  and  that  clause  of  the  Apos- 
tles' which  declares  of  our  Lord  that  "He  descended  into 
hell."     The  Nicene  Creed  was  now  reinserted  ;  and  after 

*  Appendix  to  Bishop  White's  Memorial. 

f  The  Communion-office,  therefore,  is  thus  altered  from  our  own. 
After  what  is  with  us  the  conclusion  of  the  prayer  of  consecration,^. 
the  prayer  of  oblation  follows,  in  these  words  :  "  Wherefore,  O  Lord 
and  heavenly  Father,  according  to  the  institution  of  Thy  dearly  be- 
loved Son  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  we  Thy  humble  servants  do  cele- 
brate and  make  here  before  Thy  divine  Majesty,  with  these  Thy  holy 
gifts  which  we  now  offer  unto  Thee,  the  memorial  Thy  Son  hath 
commanded  us  to  make  ;  having  in  remembrance  His  blessed  pas- 
sion and  precious  death,  His  mighty  resurrection  and  glorious  ascen- 
sion :  rendering  unto  Thee  most  hearty  thanks  for  the  innumerable 
benefits  procured  unto  us  by  the  same."  Then  succeeds  the  Invoca- 
tion, in  these  words:  "  And  we  most  humbly  beseech  Thee,  0  mer- 
ciful Father,  to  hear  us ;  and,  of  Thy  almighty  goodness,  vouchsafe 
to  bless  and  sanctify  with  Thy  word  and  Holy  Spirit  these  Thy  gifts 
and  creatures  of  bread  and  wine,  that  we,  receiving  them  according  to 
Thy  Son  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ's  holy  institution  in  remembrance 
of  His  death  and  passion,  may  be  partakers  of  His  most  blessed 
body  and  blood.  And  we  earnestly  desire  Thy  fatherly  goodness 
mercifully  to  accept  this  our  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  ; 
most  humbly  beseeching  Tliee  to  grant,  that  by  the  merits  and  death 
of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  faith  in  His  blood,  we,  and  all 
Thy  whole  Church,  may  obtain  remission  of  our  sins,  and  all  other 
benefits  of  His  passion.  And  here  we  offer  and  present  unto  Thee, 
O  Lord,  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies,  to  be  a  reasonable,  holy,  and 
living  sacrifice  unto  Thee  ;  humbly  beseeching  Thee,  that  we,  and 
all  others  who  shall  be  partakers  of  this  holy  communion,  may  wor- 
thily receive  the  most  precious  body  and  blood  of  thy  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  be  filled  with  Thy  grace  and  heavenly  benediction,  and  be 
made  one  body  with  Him,  that  He  may  dwell  in  them  and  they  in 
Him.  And  although  we  are  imworthy,  through  our  manifold  sins, 
to  offer  unto  Thee  any  sacrifice,  yet  we  beseech  Thee  to  accept  this 
our  bounden  duty  and  service,  not  weighing  our  merits,  but  par- 
doning our  offences;  througli  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ;  by  whom  and 
through  whom,  in  the  unity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  all  honor  and  glory 
be  unto  Thee,  O  Father  Almighty,  world  without  end.     Amen." 


BOOK   OF    COMMON    PRAYER.  173 

much  discussion,  the  use  of  the  disputed  clause  allowed  ; 
the  lower  house  not  consenting  to  its  absolute  adoption. 
In  the  first  printed  Prayer-books  it  was  inserted  between 
brackets ;  but  this  seeming  to  stamp  it  as  apocryphal,  the 
next  convention  placed,  instead  ol"  them,  this  discretionary 
rubric  :  "And  any  Churches  may  omit  the  words,  'He  de- 
scended into  hell ;'  or  may,  instead  of  them,  use  the  words, 
'  He  M^ent  into  the  place  of  departed  spirits,'  which  are 
considered  as  words  of  the  same  meaning  in  the  creed." 

A  selection  of  Psalms,  fixed  portions  of  which  might 
be  used  instead  of  those  which  came  in  daily  order  in  the 
Psalter,  was  inserted  in  the  Prayer-book.  This  was  the 
Avork  of  the  lower  house,  and  is  another  instance  of  the 
risk  attending  all  such  changes.  The  first  principle  of 
any  such  selection  is  manifestly  false.  It  is  a  denial  of  the 
great  truth,  that  in  those  words  ol"  inspiration  we  find  the 
spirit-struggles  of  the  King  of  Israel  answer  to  our  own  as 
face  to  face.  And  this  first  error  led  to  many  others.  One 
aim  of  the  compilers  was  to  shorten  the  service  ;  their  suc- 
cess may  be  gathered  from  the  words  of  Bishop  White, 
who  considers  "  the  omissions  as  very  capricious,  and  the 
selections  in  general  as  having  added  to  the  length  of  the 
morning  and  evening  prayer."  Some  of  his  expressions 
show,  that  even  he  was  unawares  drawn,  by  the  fault  of 
his  position,  into  an  unconscious  disrespect  to  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, or  he  would  not  have  ventured,  as  if  dealing  with 
some  human  composition,  to  commend  "the  excellency  of 
psalms  overlooked  by  gentlemen  of  judgment  and  taste." 
These  were  the  chief  changes  in  the  Common  Prayer ;  the 
others  aiming  chiefly,  and  with  small  success,  at  introduc- 
ing greater  verbal  correctness  into  our  old  Saxon  dialect. 

Such  is  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  "  declared  by  the 
bishops,  the  clergy,  and  the  laity  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  in  America  in  convention  to  be  the  liturgy  of" 
their  "  Church :"  and  upon  the  whole,  in  spite  of  some 
alterations  which  we  must  deem  unhappy,  and  more  which 
we  esteem  needless,  it  remains  as  a  living  proof  of  that 
gratitude  which  its  prefiice  expresses  to  the  Church  of 
England,  "to  which,  under  God,  she  is  indebted  for  her 
first  foundation  and  a  long  contmuance  of  nursing  care  and 


~\.    J   "   fCy. 


174  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

protection,"  since,  iipoii  the  whole,  it  fulfils  the  profession, 
that  "  she  is  far  from  intending  to  depart  from  the  Church 
of  England  in  any  essential  point  of  doctrine,  discipline,  or 
worship,  or  farther  than  local  circumstances  require."* 

The  convention  broke  up  without  the  consecration  of 
the  elected  bishop  of  Massachusetts  ;  a  direct  vote,  as  we 
have  seen,  acknowledged  Bishop  Seabury's  consecration  ; 
and  with  his  co-operation.  Dr.  Bass  might  have  been  ad- 
mitted to  the  highest  order  of  the  priesthood.  But  Bishop 
White  conceived  that  he  was  pledged  to  the  archbishop  to 
hand  on  the  English  line  unmixed.  The  consecration, 
therefore,  was  postponed  until  this  engagement  should 
have  been  relaxed.  In  the  event,  this  proved  needless, 
since,  in  the  following  year  (Sept.  1790)  Dr.  Madison, 
elected  as  Bishop  of  Virginia,  crossed  to  England,  and  was 
duly  consecrated  bishop  ;  and  thus,  184  years  after  her 
planting,  the  Church  in  Virginia  first  saw  a  bishop  of  her 
own  within  her  borders. 

The  ensuing  convention  vdtnessed  the  first  American 
consecration.  At  its  session  the  upper  house  consisted  of 
Bishops  Seabury,  V^hite,  Provoost,  and  Madison.  This 
first  meeting  of  Bishops  Seabury  and  Provoost  was  full  of 
interest,  although  the  unhappy  temper  of  the  latter  made 
it  a  time  of  much  anxiety.  Narrow  to  a  high  degree  in 
mind,  and  full  of  prejudice  against  his  eastern  brother,  the 
Bishop  of  New- York  resisted  bitterly  the  title  to  pi'esidency, 
which  by  the  canon  of  the  last  convention  would  be  his  in 
right  of  seniority  ;  and  was  even  ready  to  deny,  at  all 
hazards,  the  regularity  of  his  consecration.  The  first  point 
was,  with  Christian  meekness,  ceded  by  the  elder  bishop; 
and  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  White,  all  further  open 
opposition  was  dropped  by  Bishop  Provoost. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  1792,  Dr.  Claggett,  bishop 
elect,  was  consecrated  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  of  Bishops 
Provoost,  Seabury,  White,  and  Madison.  Thus  was  the 
Church  at  last  complete  in  all  its  functions,  and  able  to 
expand  itself  as  God  might  give  it  grace  and  opportunity, 
to  meet  the  many  wants  of  that  vast  continent  in  which  it 

*  Preface  to  American  Common  Prayer. 


CHURCH  ROOTED  I.\  AMERICA.  175 

was  now  full}'^  planted.  Otlier  consecrations  soon  succeeded. 
In  1795,  Dr.  Smith  was  consecrated  bishop  of  South  Caro- 
lina ;  and  in  1797,  Dr.  Bass  of  Massachusetts  ;  whilst  in 
the  same  year  Dr.  .larvis  was  called  to  succeed  the  first 
hisliop  of  Connecticut.  The  system  of  the  Church  was 
every  day  becominjf  more  perfectly  consolidated.  In  the 
conventions  of  1792,  1790,  and  1801,  the  question  of  ar- 
ticles was  frequently  discussed  Various  opinions  from 
time  to  time  seemed  to  predominate.  Some  in  leading  sta- 
tion, and  of  great  laxity  as  to  the  first  truths  of  the  faith, 
were,  like  Bishop  Provoost,  desirous  to  avoid  entirely  what 
they  uidiappily  conceived  to  be  a  needless  restriction  on  the 
right  of  private  judgment.  Wiser  councils  defeated  this  pro- 
posal ;  but  what  should  be  the  articles  adopted  still  remained 
an  anxious  question.  The  English  articles  had  been  at 
first  assumed  to  be  the  nucleus  of  the  new  collection ;  and 
into  them  such  changes  as  appeared  expedient  were  to  be 
inserted.  The  result  may  easily  be  guessed  ;  one  party 
objected  to  one  set  of  propositions,  the  retrenchment  of  a 
second  was  required  by  others,  until  absolute  division 
seemed  rapidly  approaching.  In  this  dilemma  it  was  re- 
solved, as  a  means  of  securing  peace,  that  the  English 
articles  should  be  received,  with  such  changes  only  as 
M'ould  make  them  suit  republican  America,  and  consist  with 
the  alterations  in  the  creeds  detailed  on  a  former  page.* 

At  this  time  the  Church  may  be  considered  as  rooted 
in  that  land.  Native  Bishops  witnessed  for  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  Lord  ;  from  one,  obtamed  almost  by  stealth 
from  Scotland,  they  had  already  multiplied  to  seven,  and 
promised  to  hand  on  unbroken  the  appointed  orders  of  the 
ministry.  Already  (179o)  the  first  bishop  (Seabnry)  had 
entered  on  his  rest,  and  his  successor  been  admitted  in  his 
room  into  the  apo.stolic  college.  There  was  now,  in  ti-uth, 
an  American  Church.  Of  old  the  proper  title  of  the  body 
so  described  would  have  been  the  English  Church  in  Ame- 
rica, if  indeed  that  sickly  and  almost  severed  branch  could 
claim  true  union  with  the  parent  stock.     But  it  was  now 

*  The  use  of  the  Book  of  Homilies  is  suspended  until  they  have 
been  cleared  from  "  obsolete  plirases  and  local  references." 


176  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

planted  in  the  wide  western  continent ;  and  many  and 
earnest  were  the  prayers  of  faithful  men,  that  its  branches 
might  spread  unto  the  sea  and  its  Jjoughs  unto  the  river. 
It  had  taken  root,  as  in  every  other  soil ;  and  good  hope 
there  was  that  it  would  cover  the  land.  The  Church 
might  now  be  read  there  by  her  distinctive  characters. 
This  was  a  great  matter  gained.  For  this,  through  long 
years  of  weakness  and  destitution,  the  most  zealous  and 
devoted  hearts  in  America  had  longed  and  prayed.  By  a 
most  unexpected  turn  had  the  answer  of  those  prayers  been 
sent  as  one  healing  fruit  of  the  American  rebelhon.  Surely 
it  was  thus  given  as  a  reproof  to  the  mother  country  fot 
her  long  denial  to  her  oflspring  of  the  most  valuable  part 
of  their  inheritance. 

But  though  the  Church  was  now  thus  complete  in  its 
organisation,  it  did  not  as  we  might  fondly  hope,  shoot  forth 
at  once  into  full  strength  and  vigor.  Almost  every  where 
there  was  mvich  of  feebleness  about  its  growth,  and  there 
were  districts  in  which  it  seemed  to  languish  and  decay. 
"  The  period  through  Avhich  for  some  years  our  narrative 
has  been  taking  us,"  says  Dr.  Hawks,*  referring  to  this 
time,  "  is  one,  for  the  most  part,  of  such  gloomy  darkness, 
that  the  smallest  ray  of  light  is  felt  to  be  a  blessing." 
Even  when  "the  dawning  light  of  a  brighter  day"  was 
rising  on  Virginia,  "  the  journals  of  the  convention  by  which 
Bishop  Moore  was  elected  show  the  presence  of  but  seven 
clei'gymen  and  seventeen  laymen.  We  look  back  upon 
the  past,  and  are  struck  with  the  contrast.  Seven  clergj'^- 
men  were  all  that  could  be  convened  to  transact  the  most 
important  measure  which  our  conventions  are  ever  called 
on  to  perform,  and  this  in  a  territory  where  once  more  than 
ten  times  seven  regularly  served  at  the  altar.  We 
look  back  farther  still,  and  lind  the  Church,  after  the  lapse 
of  200  years,  numbering  about  as  many  ministers  as  she  pos- 
sessed at  the  close  of  the  first  eight  years  of  her  existence." 

But  little  better  is  the  account  of  things  in  Maryland. 
"  In  1803  there  was  a  spirit  of  indiflerenc  to  religion  and 
the  Church  too  extensively    prevalent  in  the    parishes ; 

*  Contributions  to  Eccl.  Hist,  of  Virginia,  p.  295. 


PERIOD   OF    DEPRESSION.  177 

nearly  one  half  of  them  were  vaoant  ;  in  some,  all  minis- 
terial support  had  ceased.  Some  few  of  the  clergy  had 
deserted  their  stations  ;  and  of  the  residue,  several,  dis- 
heartened and  embarrassed  by  inadequate  means  of  living', 
had  sought  subsistence  in  other  states.  Infidelity  and 
fanaticism  were  increasing ;  and,  on  the  whole,  there  never 
was  a  time  when  ministers  were  more  needed,  or  when  it 
was  more  difficult  to  obtain  them.  "*  In  Pennsylvania  it 
was  much  the  same.  The  number  of  the  clergy  here 
continued  still  so  small,  "  that  even  the  old  parishes,  ex- 
isting before  the  revolution,  could  not  be  supplied,  much 
less  could  the  formation  of  new  congregations  be  at- 
tempted."! Such  was  the  general  state  of  things  during 
the  first  years  of  this  century 

Many  causes  tended  to  produce  this  deep  depression ; 
some  of  these  were  inherent  in  the  general  temper  of  Ame- 
rican society  and  manners,  but  many  more  may  undoubt- 
edly be  traced  to  the  peculiar  condition  under  which  the 
Church  was  now  established.  To  gain  a  clear  view  of  the 
history  of  those  times,  we  must  shortly  glance  at  each  of 
these,  and  endeavor  to  trace  in  action  the  working  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical constitution  as  it  had  been  recently  remodelled. 
The  first  great  hindrance  to  its  strength  was  the  low  tone 
of  feeling  and  of  doctrine  which  in  the  foi'mer  days  of  our 
neglect  had  crept  over  its  members.  There  was  little  at- 
tachment to  the  Church,  little  veneration  for  her  charac- 
ter, little  knowledge  or  value  of  her  distinctive  claims  ; 
there  were  many  recollections  of  careless  shepherds,  of 
clergy  who  had  disgraced  their  calling.  Thus  there  was 
widely  spread  abroad  a  want  of  reverence  for  holy  things 
and  holy  persons  ;  there  was  among  the  laity  a  feverish 
readiness  to  constitute  themselves  watchmen  over  their 
appointed  watchmen,  which  was  most  injurious  in  its  efiect 
both  to  the  clergy  and  to  themselves. 

These  evils  were  further  aggravated  by  the  peculiar 
position  of  the  newly-constituted  body  with  respect  to  the 
communions  round  it,  which  claimed  equally  the  Christiau 

*  Dr.  Hawks'  Memorials  of  Virginia,  pp.  350,  351. 
f  Life  of  Bishop  White,  p.  154. 

7* 


178  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

name,  but  were  strangers  to  the  apostolic  form  and  discip' 
line ;  for  it  was  thus  subjected,  at  the  same  time,  to  the 
weakness  both  of  infancy  and  of  decrepitude.  In  all  those 
associations  and  prescriptive  rights  whereby  an  hereditary 
Church  maintains  her  hold  upon  the  love  and  reverence  of 
men,  she  was  necessarily  wanting.  She  had  no  territorial 
existence  ;  men  belonged  to  her  not  because  they  were  born 
within  her  pale,  because  in  the  old  time  holy  pastors  of 
her  communion  had  stood  up  there  amongst  their  pagan 
forefathers,  and  bowed  their  rugged  hearts  by  the  message 
of  the  everlasting  Grospel,  and  then  gathered  them  hito  a 
visible  fellowship,  into  which  they  too,  in  their  turn,  had 
been  baptised,  and  to  which  they  owed  from  infancy  an 
hereditary  reverence  ;  nor  even  because  they  now  joined 
a  company  of  others  who  had  been  trained  amidst  such 
associations  ; — ^but  they  belonged  to  her  because  they  chose 
to  join  her — because  she  was  more  reasonable  or  more 
comely  in  their  eyes  than  others — because  they  willed  it:  and 
to  this  action  of  their  will,  and  that  of  others  round  them, 
it  seemed  as  if  she  owed  her  being  :  like  the  constitution 
of  their  nation,  she  seemed  self-formed  through  their  agency. 
They  were  not  grafted  into  a  pre-existing  body — they  were 
the  framers  of  a  new  society;  and  they  felt  towards  it, 
therefore,  ever  afterwards,  as  towards  that  which  they 
might  support,  remodel,  or  forsake  at  will — as  their  cause 
so  long  as  they  maintained  it — as  that  which  they  had  a 
title  to  conduct  as  they  would.  And  hence  they  were 
almost  strangers  to  the  reverence  and  afiection  of  children 
to  a  spiritual  mother  :  this,  under  their  circumstance.?, 
could  only  grow  up  with  time  and  slowly  formed  associa- 
tions ;  and  so  for  the  present,  the  weakness  of  infancy  was 
on  her. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  was  amongst  them  little  of 
the  strength  of  the  Church's  youth  ;  for  this  is  founded  on 
the  ardent  afiection  of  fresh  converts  to  the  great  heart- 
truths  of  Christ's  blessed  Gospel.  The  small  company  of 
gathered  believers  in  any  land  where,  for  the  first  time, 
the  cross  of  Christ  is  planted,  are  a  body  every  one  of 
whom  is  personally  convinced  of  the  reality  of  that  com- 
mon spiritual  life  into  which  he  is  now  admitted.     They 


ECCLESIASTICAL    CONSTITUTION.  179 

are  all  well  nigh  overpowered  by  the  first  discovery  of  their 
true  greatness  and  blessedness  in  Christ,  and  their  utter 
misery  without  Him  The  Church  has  brought  them  the 
glorious  message  of  their  new  creation,  and  for  it  they  are 
ready,  if  need  be,  to  go  through  fire  and  water  ;  and  so, 
though  they  may  be  few  in  number,  they  are  great  in 
strength,  for  every  one  of  them  is  a  host :  each  may  go 
forth  in  God's  strength  and  chase  a  thousand.  But  this 
could  not  be  the  case  with  this  infant  communion.  She 
was  young  indeed,  but  she  was  shorn  of  the  strength  of 
her  youth.  The  message  she  bore  was  familiar  to  the  ears 
of  those  to  whom  she  spoke ;  she  had  to  deal  with  a  popu- 
lation calling  itself  Christian,  or,  at  least,  well  acquainted 
with  all  the  oficrs  of  Christianity;  she  stood  but  as  a  new 
sect  amongst  sects  ;*  she  seemed  to  them  to  be  contending 
for  nice  distinctions,  subtle  refinements,  perhaps  doubtful 
clauns.  This  weakened  everywhere  the  eflect  of  her  testi- 
mony with  others,  and  it  tended  to  lower  her  own  tone, — 
to  lead  her  to  stand  upon  the  defensive, — to  act  and  speak, 
and  often,  we  may  fear,  think  of  herself,  as  nothing  more 
than  one  amongst  the  many  round  her,  and  of  her  errand, 
as  rather  to  make  proselytes  to  the  dogma  of  Episcopacy, 
than  to  win  living  souls  to  Christ. 

In  these  circumstances  may  doubtless  be  found  reasons 
for  the  comparatively  small  effect  which,  at  first,  followed 
her  implanting  in  America  as  the  true  Church  of  that 
great  people.  But  beyond  this  cause,  weakness  existed  in 
her  peculiar  organization.  To  enter  fully  into  these,  we 
must  review  shortly  the  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity 
which  was  at  that  time  estabUshed.  This,  in  outline, 
was  as  follows: — The  union  of  the  whole  Church  was 
maintained  by  a  "general  convention"  or  assembly  "of 
clerical  and  lay  deputies"  elected  by  each  diocese,  not  to 
exceed  four  of  each  order,  which  met  once  in  three  years 

*  The  lang:uage  of  the  preface  to  her  Prayer-book  unhappily, 
favored  this  view,  in  declaring  that  the  result  of  the  war  of  inde- 
pendence was  to  "  leave  the  diiferent  denominations  of  Christians  at 
full  and  equal  liberty  to  model  and  organize  their  respective  churches 
and  forms  of  worship  and  discipline,  in  such  manner  as  they  might 
judge  most  convenient  for  their  future  prosperity." 


180  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

to  pass  general  canons,  and  determine  any  question  wliioh 
concerned  the  common  interest  of  the  whole  Church;  each 
diocese  to  have  one  vote  ;   all  questions  to  be  settled  by  a 
majority  of  voices,  each  order  having  a  negative  upon  the 
other  whenever  they  should  be  required  to  vote  by  orders. 
Further,  a  like  body  of  lay  deputies  and  clergy  met  every 
year  in  "diocesan  convention,"  to  order,  in  subjection  to 
i  the  general  canons,  all  which  specially  concerned  that  dio- 
I  cese.     One  function  of  the   diocesan  convention  was   to 
nominate  a  "  standing  committee,"  which,  during  the  in- 
tervals between  its  session,  carried  its  decisions  into  execu- 
tion in  the  diocese,  and,  with  its  fellow-committees,  formed, 
in  some  respects,  a  standing  council  of  the  whole  Church. 
Within  the   diocese,  again,  each  separate  parish  had  its 
own  vestry,  which,  besides  possessing  many  administrative 
powers,  elected  its  delegates  ibr  the  "  diocesan  convention." 
A   very  little  inspection  will  show  the  deficiencies  of 
'v '  all  this  scheme  of  polity,  which  was,  in  fact,  copied,  in  the 
^      main,  from  the  political  institutions  of  the  newly-founded 
republic,   and    rested,  therefore,  far   too    much  upon   the 
choice  and  self-government  of  all  its  rnembers.     It  is  of 
great  moment  that  we  trace  this  out,  because  it  will  show 
J  us  the  root  of  many  of  the  infirmities   and  difficulties  by 

which  the  Church  has  been  beset.     We  can,  indeed,  only 
trace  the  outward  side  of  such  evils ;  we  can  inquire  into 
.   defects  of  organization  and  errors  in  systems  of  polity  and 
discipline,  and  we  can  do  no  more ;  but  in  doing  this  m'c 
must  never  overlook  the  master-truth,  that  in  the  presence 
,    V      of  the  blessed  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  the  only  life  and  strength 
/  ^     of  the  whole  Church.     His    gracious    breath  revives    its 
love  and  purity  ;  His  withdrawal  leaves  it  dry  and  withered. 
'         The  secret  history  of  a  multitude  of  hearts  may  therelbre 
account,  in  any  land,  for  its  welfare   or  decline,  but   that 
history  is  secret  as  the  pathway  of  the  Lord  amongst  the 
mighty  waters.     On  this,  theretbre,  we  cannot  enter ;  not 
from  undervaluing  its  first  importance,  but  because  it  is  a 
hidden  thing,  to  which  we  cannot  reach.     We  must  be 
contented  if  we   can  discover   the  external  causes   with 
which  these  mighty  influences  are  by  God's  will  connected  ; 
and  this  is  our  intention  here. 


ECCLESUSTICAL    CONStlTUTION.  181 

To  begin,  then,  with  the  lowest  subdivision.  The  title 
"  parish"  iu  America  has  a  widely  diflerent  meaning  from 
that  which  it  bears  with  us.  It  is  not  a  certain  district  of 
a  diocese  conunitted  by  its  bishop  to  the  spiritual  care  of  a 
presbyter,  who  is  to  regard  all  within  it  as  his  charge,  for 
whom  he  is  to  care  now,  and  to  give  account  hereafter, 
"  whether  they  will  hear  or  whether  they  will  forbear  ;"  it 
was  merely  a  set  of  persons  who  associated  themselves  to- 
gether and  agreed  to  act  and  worship  together  in  a  certain 
place,  and  under  certain  rules,  because  they  preferred  the 
episcopal  form  to  any  other.  Their  very  corporate  exis- 
tence was  the  consequence  of  their  own  choice  and  will, 
not  the  result  of  care  taken  for  them  ;  and  this  principle 
was  present  every  where.  After  a  time  these  men  deter- 
mined upon  building  a  church  ;  they  built  it,  and  divided 
its  area  into  pews,  which  they  took  to  themselves  ;  so  that 
the  poor  Avere  from  the  first  excluded,  because  they  could 
not  pay  their  share  towards  the  expenses  of  the  building, 
which  now  belonged  to  the  body  corporate  in  whose  deci- 
sion it  originated.  Here  was  the  first  grievous  fault  :  "to 
the  poor  the  gospel  was"  not  "  preached."  The  next  was 
of  a  diflerent  kind,  but  no  less  real.  The  body  thus  formed 
applied  to  the  convention  of  the  diocese  in  which  it  was 
situated  lor  admission  as  a  part  of  that  diocese  ;  it  obtained 
from  the  legislature  the  privileges  of  a  body  corporate,  and 
it  began  to  exercise  its  rights.  Accordingly,  in  Easter 
week  of  every  year,  all  the  holders  of  the  pews  met  to- 
gether to  elect  by  ballot  a  vestry,  which  might  consist  of 
any  number  not  exceeding  ten.  From  this  number  two 
wardens  were  appointed,  one  by  the  clergyman*  and  one 
by  the  vestry.  The  vestry  being  thus  organised,  elected 
out  of  their  ovm  body  a  treasurer,  secretary,  and  delegates 
to  the  diocesan  convention. 

To  this  vestry  the  management  of  all  the  affairs  of  the 
parish  was  committed,  and  this  lay  body  not  only  conducted 
its  pecuniary  concerns,  but  settled  the  payment  of  the  min- 
ister,  "  engaged  the  services  of  a  clergyman  in  cases  of  a 

*  In  the  greater  number  of  cases  the  wardens  are  boUi  appoint- 
ed by  the  vestry. 


182  AMERICAN   CStJRCH. 

vacancy  ;"*  and  if  it  deemed  it  right,  provided  also  an  as* 
sistant  minister.  Thus,  by  this  system,  not  only  was  the 
pastor  dependent  on  the  oHerings  of  his  flock,  but  he  de- 
rived his  authority  from  them,  and  to  them  he  was  respon- 
sible. They  at  first  nominated  him  to  his  post,  and  after- 
wards, through  the  vestry,  in  a  great  measure  controlled 
his  conduct.  The  practical  evils  v/hich  flowed  from  this 
unsound  principle  need  scarcely  be  pohited  out.  The  course 
of  this  history  will  require  us  to  notice  hereafter  some  strik- 
ing instances  in  which  the  Episcopal  clergy,  as  a  body, 
have  not  dared  to  raise  an  open  testimony  against  national 
corruption.  Such  must  be  too  often  the  result  of  arrange- 
ments such  as  these.  The  vei-y  notion  of  the  Christian 
ministry  presupposes  in  the  witness  for  his  Lord  entire  in- 
dependence of  those  to  whom  he  is  sent.  He  must  be  ready 
to  withstand  and  to  rebuke  evil  principles  and  evil  prac- 
tices wherever  they  are  found  ;  and  if  he  be  not,  it  is  soon 
discovered  that  the  salt  of  the  world  hath  lost  its  savor. 
For  this  end  it  was,  that  siuce  the  power  of  working  mi- 
racles has  been  withdrawn,  the  whole  system  of  the  Church 
has  sought  to  provide  for  the  independence  of  those  who 
were  to  be,  by  the  necessity  of  their  ofRce,  bold  rebukers 
of  sin,  and,  if  need  be,  patient  sufferera  for  the  truth.  The 
wisdom  Avith  which  it  had  secured  this  end,  by  making  the 
clergy  dependent  only  on  itself,  was  one  great  secret  of 
the  power  and  prevalence  of  papal  Rome.  Amongst  our- 
selves the  same  end  has  been  greatly  promoted  by  the  ex- 
istence of  an  endowed  national  establishment.  For,  though 
the  spirit  which  fills  the  heart  of  confessors  and  martyrs  is 
of  far  too  high  and  noble  a  character  to  be  directly  afl'ected 
by  such  an  influence,  yet  in  the  long  run  the  temper  of 
any  large  body  of  men  will  be  surely,  though  unconsciously, 
depressed  or  raised  by  the  dependence  or  independence  of 
the  position  which  they  occupy. 

In  America,  all  thuigs  tend  to  make  the  clergy  keenly 
feel  their  want  of  independence.  So  far  does  this  extend, 
that  it  can  hardly  fail  to  act  injuriously  upon  their  own 
estimate  of  their  spiritual  position.     It  is  hardly  to  be  ex- 

*  The  American  expression.     Caswall's  American  Church,  p.  66. 


PARISH    AND    DIOCESE!.  183 

pected  that  men  who  are  thus  taught  from  llie  first  to  view 
themselves  merely  as  the  selected  and  paid  agents  of  a 
lay  hoard  can,  as  a  body,  fully  realize  their  high  oliaracter 
as  the  lljarless  witnesses  for  Christ's  truth  in  the  face  of  au 
evil  generation.  Noble  exceptions,  indeed,  there  have  been 
among  the  western  clergy — Christian  heroes,  who  have 
risen  above  the  weakening  influence  of  tlie  system  under 
which  they  live  ;  but  of  that  system  the  tendency  is  no  less 
certain.  It  is  to  make  the  pastor  wholly  dependent  upon 
those  to  whom  he  ministers. 

Next  to  the  parisli  comes  the  diocese,  which  consists  of 
all  the  parishes  within  any  one  state,  which,  having  or- 
ganised themselves  according  to  the  rules  of  the  general 
convention,  have  been  admitted  into  union  with  it.  Here, 
again,  the  same  faulty  principle  was  present.  A  "  dio- 
cese," in  the  language  of  the  Church,  has  ever  meant 
a  certain  portion  of  Christ's  flock  committed  to  the  spe- 
cial charge  of  one  chief  pastor,  who  fills  lor  it  the  office 
which  our  Lord  entrusted  to  His  first  apostles.  But  in 
America  a  diocese  meant  nothing  more  than  a  federal  com- 
monwealth of  "  parishes,"  associated  on  certain  prescribed 
conditions  with  each  other  and  the  general  convention.  So 
far  from  dependence  on  one  bishop  defining  its  character 
and  marking  its  limits,  it  might,  and  often  must,*  for  years, 
by  the  general  canons  of  the  Church,  have  no  bishop  at 
all.  For,  while  any  number  of  parishes  in  any  state  were 
invited  by  the  constitution  to  form  themselves  into  a  "  dio- 
cese," it  was  specially  enjoinedf  that  they  should  not  have 
the  right  of  electing  a  bishop  until  six  presbyters  had  been 
duly  settled  within  that  state,  in  charge  of  six  duly  organ- 
ised parishes,  for  the  space  of  one  year.  The  reason  of 
this  rule  is  plain.  Without  it,  any  ambitious'  presbyter 
who  could  gather  one  or  two  supporters,  might  have  "  or- 
ganised a  diocese"  in  some  new  state,  and  presented  him- 
self for  consecration  as  its  elected  bishop.  But  the  necessity 
of  such  a  rule  is  a  striking  instance  of  the  evil  which  re- 
sulted from  this  new  principle  of  self-creation  ;  by  which, 

*  This  necessity  has  since  been  happily  reraoved,  as  will  appear 
hereafter. 

f  By  the  second  canon  of  the  Church. 


184  AMERICAN    CHURClt, 

like  some  mere  commercial  association  aimino"  at  pecuni- 
ary profits,  the  members  of  the  Church  formed  themselves 
at  will  into  a  body  corporate,  to  act  together  by  mutual 
agreement,  without  their  appointed  head. 

The  practice  of  earlier  times,  indeed,  and  the  necessities 
of  this,  would  have  allowed,  if  need  be,  any  scattered  pres- 
byters to  act,  singly  or  together,  on  their  own  com- 
mission, waiting  for  and  expecting  the  time,  when  the 
rulers  of  the  Church  should  crown  their  labors,  by  senduig 
forth  one  chief  witness  more,  to  gather  them  together  into 
a  visible  unity.  But  this  would  have  been  wholly  a  dif- 
ferent arrangement  from  that,  which  directed  the  laity  or 
clergy  to  constitute  themselves  an  organised  diocese,  though 
they  remained  for  years  without  a  bishop. 

The  evils  of  this  state  of  things  are  well  expressed  by 
a  living  bishop  of  America  :* — "  If  due  perpetuation  of  the 
Ohurch,  and  chief  authority,  and  the  protection  of  God's 
promise,  appertain  to  bishops  as  successors  of  the  apostles 
of  the  Lord,  how  can  we  encourage,  so  far  as  we  have 
rightful  influence,  the  extension,  or  even  the  existence  of 
the  Church  without  a  bishop  ?  If  it  be  '  evident,'  as  we 
declare,!  '  to  all  men  diligently  reading  holy  scripture  and 
ancient  authors,  that  from  the  apostles'  time  there  have 
been  these  orders  of  ministers  in  Christ's  Church,  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons,'  by  what  warrant  can  we  withhold 
from  any  portion  of  the  Saviour's  family  the  ehiefest  of  the 
three  ?  If  it  be  sound  and  true  in  practice,  as  it  is  cer- 
tainly of  primitive  authority,  '  not  to  do  any  thing  without 
the  bishop, '$  upon  what  principle  is  it  that  we  permit  the 
organisation  of  dioceses,  yet,  until  they  have  a  certain  num- 
ber of  duly  organised  parishes  and  duly  settled  presbyters, 
compel  them  to  remain  without  a  bishop  ?" 

One  evident  effect  of  this  rule  was,  to  afford  tempta- 
tions to  all  sorts  of  subterfuges  through  which  a  state  could 
be  made  to  seem  possessed  of  the  number  of  parishes  and 

*  George  Washington  Doane,  D.  D.,  bishop  of  the  diocese  of 
New  Jersey,  in  a  sermon  preached  at  Philadelphia,  September  26, 
1833 

f  Preface  to  the  Ordinal. 

X  See  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius,  the  disciple  of  St.  John. 


DIOCESE    AND    BISHOPS.  185 

pastors  to  which  was  annexed  the  exercise  of  this  right. 
Another  and  a  greater  evil  belonging  to  this  rule  was  the 
weakness  with  which  it  infected  all  the  aggressive  acts  of 
the  Church  npon  those  whom  she  should  conquer  to  save. 
In  the  outskirts  and  border-land  of  Christendom  the  spirit- 
ual struggle  is  always  most  severe.  There,  where  the  old 
standard  can  be  carried  forward  only  by  hard  fighting,  is 
the  greatest  need  of  those  true  champions  who  are  ready  to 
spend  their  breath  and  shed  their  blood  in  the  holy  cause. 
There  is  ever  the  greatest  need  of  disciplined  ranks,  of 
completeness  of  authority,  of  ready  obedience,  of  concentred 
command,  of  our  Master's  promised  presence ;  there,  more 
than  any  where  beside,  must  the  successors  of  the  twelve 
be  found  ready  to  do  constantly  apostle's  works.  Nothing, 
therefore,  could  be  more  disheartening  than  the  lacking 
this  secret  of  strength  exactly  where  that  strength  was 
most  required. 

Again,  another  evil  resulted  from  this  rule.  It  fostered 
the  very  spirit  of  self-will  and  independence  from  which  it 
sprang  ;  for,  by  allowing  the  organisation  of  a  diocese  with- 
out a  bishop,  it  led  practically  to  the  undervaluing  of  the 
office  of  a  bishop,  to  its  being  esteemed  an  ornamental  part 
of  the  Church  machinery,  and  not  as  the  power  of  govern- 
ment and  the  instrument  of  a  visible  unity.  The  "  conven- 
tion," and  not  the  episcopate  became  really  the  ruling 
power.  That  is,  while  called  Episcopal,  the  Church  was, 
in  fact,  in  great  measure  Presbyterian. 

There  was  much  in  the  constitution  of  the  diocesan 
"  convention"  to  increase  this  evil.  It  was  a  synod,  of  which 
laymen,  many  of  whom  Avere  not  even  communicants.formed 
the  greater  part.f  Each  parish  sent  one, two, or  three  delegates 
to  this  convention  ;  and  they  passed  canons,  administered  the 
discipline  of  the  diocese,  decided  on  the  alteration  of  creeds, 
liturgies,  and  articles,  elected  a  bishop,  and  even  held  that 
when  appointed  he  would  be  "  amenable  to"  them.f     Of  a 

*  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  even  an  unbaptised  man  re- 
presenting the  Church  in  general  convention;  and  it  is  too  cer- 
tain that  such  men  have  actually  been  found  amongst  the  dele- 
gates. 

t  Canons  of  the  C'.mrch  in  Virginia. 


186  AMERICAN    CHURCH, 

like  character  was  the  constitution  of  the  standing  commit- 
tee, which  commonly  consisted  of  laymen  and  clergy,  in 
equal  numbers.*  This,  which  was  elected  by  a  diocesan 
convention,  was,  till  the  next  assembled,  the  governing 
body  of  the  diocese. 

A  few  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  one  of  the  Virginian 
conventions  will  show  the  working  of  this  system  in  detail. 
They  are  taken  from  the  journal  of  May,  1790,t  lour 
months  before  the  consecration  of  the  first  bishop  of  that 
diocese. 

On  Wednesday,  May  5th,  a  sufficient  number  of  clergy- 
men and  lay  deputies  to  form  a  convention  having  met 
according  to  appointment,  the  Rev.  T.  Madison,  D.  D.,  was 
unanimously  elected  president.  After  this  they  elected  a 
secretary  and  a  committee  to  examine  into  the  certificates 
of  the  appointments  of  sitting  members,  and  adjourned  till 
two  p.  M.,  to  receive  the  report  of  this  committee.  This 
having  been  received,  and  the  list  of  actual  members  of 
convention  ascertained,  they  then  adjourned  until  the  mor- 
row. 

On  Thursday,  May  6th,  the  proceedings  opened  wdth 
prayers  and  a  sermon ;  after  which,  amongst  other  things, 
it  was  "resolved,  that  this  convention  will  to-morrow  re- 
solve itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  convention,  on 
the  state  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  ;  that  this 
convention  will,  to-morrow,  proceed  to  the  nomination  of  a 
bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia  ;  that  a  com- 
mittee be  appointed  to  amend  the  canons  which  respect 
the  trial  of  offending  clergymen."  This  committee  was 
composed  of  five  laymen  and  five  clergymen. 

On  the  following  day  the  convention  proceeded  by  bal- 
lot to  the  nomination  of  a  bishop,  when  it  was  found  that 
the  numbers  given  were — for  the  Rev.  James  Madison, 
46  ;  for  the  Rev.  Samuel  Shield,  9 — a  majority,  therefore, 
of  the  whole  convention  was  in  favor  of  Dr.  Madison,  and 

*  "  In  Pennsylvania  it  consists  of  five  clergymen  and  as  many 
laymen.  In  Ohio  three  of  each  order  are  elected  ;  iu  Tenessee  tAvo  of 
each."     CaswalVs  Aine7-ican  Church,  p.  l-i 

f  Journals  of  Virginian  Conventions.  Appendix  to  Dr.  Hawks's 
Memorials,  p.  31,  &,c. 


VIRGINIAN    CONAT3NTION  187 

it  was  accordingly  resolved  that  he  should  be  nominated 
for  consecration  as  their  bishop. 

The  convention  then  appointed  five  clergymen  to  "visit" 
the  dilierent  districts  of  the  pi-ovince  ;  and  agreed  to  recom- 
mend any  bishop  to  whom  Mr.  Stephen  Johnson  might 
apply  for  ordination,  to  dispense  in  his  case  with  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  required  by  the 
seventh  general  canon  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  America.  After  transacting  some  of  the  tempoi-al  busi- 
ness of  the  diocese,  the  convention  adjourned.  At  their 
meeting  on  the  following  day,  which  ended  the  synod,  be- 
sides other  business,  they  received  from  the  committee  some 
new  canons  respecting  the  trial  of  offending  clergymen, 
which  were  read  and  finally  adopted,  and  agreed  to  a  ge- 
neral "ordinance  for  regulatmg  the  appointment  of  vestries 
and  trustees,  and  for  other  purposes."  Some  extracts  Irom 
these  "canons"  and  this  "ordinance"  Avill  shoAV  the  nature 
of  the  questions  decided  by  this  convention,  in  which  there 
were  twenty-seven  clergymen  to  thirty-three  lay  deputies. 
"  Be  it  ordained,"  says  the  ordinance,  "  that  future  conven- 
tions shall  consist  of  two  deputies  from  each  parish,  of 
whom  the  minister  shall  be  one,  if  there  he  a  minister,  the 
other  a  layman,  to  be  annually  chosen  by  the  vestry,  who 
shall  also  choose  another,  where  there  is  no  minister  in  the 
parish," — a  minister  being  no  more  essential  to  a  parish 
than  a  bishop  to  a  diocese. 

"  Convention  shall  regulate  all  the  religious  concerns  of 
the  Church,  its  doctrines,  discipline,  and  worship,  and 
institute  such  rules  and  regulations  as  they  may  judge  ne- 
cessary for  the  good  government  thereof,  and  the  same 
revoke  and  alter  at  their  pleasure." 

To  the  same  purport  speak  the  canons.  "All  ques 
tions,  whether  they  relate  to  the  order,  government,  disci- 
pline, DOCTRINE,  or  worship  of  this  Church,  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  a  majority  of  votes."  "The  clergy  of  several 
neighboring  parishes  shall  assemble  in  presbytery  annually, 
at  some  convenient  ])]ace  in  the  district.  One  in  each  dis- 
trict shall  be  appointed  by  the  convention  to  preside  at 
their  meetings,  with  the  title  of  visitor ;  who  shall  annually 
visit  each  parish  in  his  district — shall  attend  to  and  inspect 


188  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  morals  and  conduct  of  the  clergy — shall  admonish  and 
reprove  privately  those  clergymen  who  are  negligent  or  act 
in  an  unbecoming  manner — and  shall  report  yearly  to  the 
bishop,  if  there  be  one,  or  if  there  be  no  bishop,  to  the  next 
convention,  the  state  of  each  parish  in  his  district."  Other 
canons  carried  these  principles  still  further.  "  Bishops," 
says  canon  25,  "shall  be  amenable  to  the  convention,  Mrho 
shall  be  a  court  to  try  them,  from  which  there  shall  be  no 
appeal ;"  and  (canon  27)  "  on  a  bishop's  being  convicted 
of  offences,  he  shall  be  reproved,  suspended,  or  dismissed, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  court." 

Of  the  same  character  are  some  of  the  rules  for  the 
lower  orders  in  the  ministry.  "No  minister,"  says  the 
13th,  "shall  hereafter  be  received  into  any  parish  within 
this  commonwealth  till  he  shall  have  entered  into  a  con- 
tract in  writing  ...  by  which  it  shall  be  stipulated  .  .  . 
that  he  holds  the  appointment  subject  to  removal  upon 
the  determination  of  the  convention  of  this  state."  And 
the  2Sth  canon,  one  of  those  adopted  at  this  time,  consti- 
tutes the  chairman  and  three-fourths  of  the  standing  com- 
mittee (a  lay  body)  a  court  to  try  all  clergymen  accused 
of  ofiences,  giving  them  the  power  of  "passing  such  a  sen- 
tence as  the  majority  shall  think  deserved,  which  shall  be 
either  reproof,  dismission,  or  degradation."  The  tendency 
of  such  a  set  of  rules  is  plain.  They  do  not  merely  secure 
to  the  laity  that  share  of  power  which,  in  the  best  times, 
belonged  to  them,  but  they  give  to  the  convention  the 
whole  government ;  and  confer  upon  a  synod  of  deputies, 
clerical  and  lay,  the  office  of  degrading  presbyters  and 
bishops — of  taking,  that  is,  from  them,  what  it  had  no 
authority  to  give  or  to  remove. 

In  the  organization  of  the  general  convention  the  same 

evils    may    be    found.      Some,    indeed,    there    were,    and 

j    amongst  them  Bishop  Seabury,  who  contended  that  lay- 

/    men  should  not  sit  at  all  in  synods  of  the  Church.     But 

''     for  this  there  seems  to  be  undoubted  warrant.     From  the 

intimations  of  the   Acts  of  the   Apostles,  we   can   hardly 

A  l\  J  doubt  that,  in  some  way  or   other,  the  laity  took   part  in 

'   '   the  disscussions  of  the  primitive  Church.     It   is  as   plain 

that  they  made   up   the   body  in  which  dwelt   the  Holy 


LAY   MEMBERS    OF    CONVENTION.  189 

Ghost,  as  that  the  power  of  discipline  and  rule  was  vested 
in  the  hands  of  the  apostles.  The  general  history  of  the 
Church  in  the  succeeding  age  suggests,  that  then  also  the 
believing  people  ratified  with  their  expressed  consent  the 
decisions  of  the  earliest  synods.  That  such  was  the  custom 
in  our  own  land  is  clear  from  plain  historical  records.  It 
is  proved  by  the  earliest  remains  of  our  annals,  that  the 
bishops  presided  over  ecclesiastical  councils  in  England, 
and,  with  a  vast  attendance  of  the  people,  settled  all  mat- 
ters of  religion  against  heresies, 

After  the  subjugation  of  this  island  by  the  Saxons, 
their  kings,  with  the  chiefs  and  bishops,  held  councils,  in 
which  they  decided  all  which  concerned  the  safety  of  the 
Church  and  kingdom  ;  and  to  maintain  their  peace  and 
discipline,  enacted  laws,  with  the  sanction  both  of  the 
laity  and  prelates.  Further,  if  at  any  time  canons  were 
passed  in  a  merely  ecclesiastical  synod,  they  were  not 
binding  on  the  body  of  the  clergy  untd  they  had  received 
the  sanction  of  the  monarch,  as  the  representative  of  the 
laity  ;  for  no  decrees  of  ecclesiastical  councils  possessed  the 
character  of  public  enactments  until  thus  sanctioned  by 
the  king's  authority.* 

Both  in  Scotland  and  England,  in  the  ninth,  tenth, 
and  eleventh  centuries,  councils  were  held  for  settling  both 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs,  in  which  it  is  plain,  from 
their  signatures,  that  kings  and  great  men  of  the  laity  sat 
with  and  even  outweighed  the  bishops. f 

On  this  point  our  ancient  records  cannot  be  mistaken. 
"  Let  the  bishop  and  the  senator,"  say  the  laws  of  Edgar 
(about  A.D.  950,)  "be  present  at  the  provincial  synod,  and 
afterAvards  let  them  teach  divine  and  human  laws."| 

"  King  Eadmund,"  says  the  code  of  Anglo-Saxon  laws, 
"  assembled  a  great  synod  at  London-byrig,  as  well  of 
ecclesiastical  as  secular  degree,  durmg  the  holy  Easter- 
tide. There  was  Odda,  archbishop,  and  Wolfstan,  arch- 
bishop, and  many  other  bishops,  deeply  thinking  of  their 
souls'  condition  and  of  those  who  were  subject  to  them."^ 

*  Wilkins,  Concilia,  vol.  vi.  p.  viii.  f  Ibid.  p.  xxvii. 

X  Wilkiiis,  Lej;cs  AngloSaxoiiicae,  pp.  78,  7D. 
§  Anglo-Saxon  La-ws,  p.  92. 


190  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

"  Li  the  reign  of  the  most  bountiful  Wihtred,  king  of 
the  Kentish  men,  there  was  assembled  a  convention  of  the 
great  men  in  council  :  there  was  Birhtwald,  Archbishop 
of  Britain,  and  the  forenamed  king  ;  and  the  ecclesiastics 
of  tlie  province  of  every  degree  spoke  in  union  with  the 
subject  people."* 

So  speak  the  laws  of  King  Alfred.  "  After  this  it  hap- 
pened that  many  nations  received  the  faith  of  Christ, f  and 
that  many  synods  were  assembled  throughout  all  the 
eai-th  ;  and  also  among  the  English  race  after  they  had 
received  the  faith  of  Christ,  of  holy  bishops,  and  also  of 
other  exalted  witan."  And  even  in  later  times,  when  the 
clergy  and  laity  no  longer  sat  together,  the  decisions  of 
the  synod  were  ratified  by  the  assent  of  the  assembled 
laity. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  to  the  presence  or  votes  of  the  laity 
/  in  the  American  convention  that  objection  can  be  made. 

In  this  respect  the  constitution  of  the  synod  did  but  follow 
primitive  examples.  But  there  were  other  points  for 
which  no  such  warrant  can  be  found.  The  Episcopal 
character  was  not  distinctly  marked  in  its  organization. 
The  veto  of  the  bishops  is  as  essential  to  the  complete- 
ness of  the  system  as  the  possession  of  their  due  share 
of  power  by  the  believing  laity :  and  this  was  withheld 
from  the  bishops  in  America  ;  the  agreement  of  four-fifths 
of  the  lower  house  forced  upon  them  any  measures  approved 
by  the  majority. 

If  Episcopacy  be  indeed  of  Christ's  appointment,  such 
infractions  on  its  principles  must  have  weakened  this  infant 
Church ;  and  that  it  did  so,  there  is  ample  proof.  To 
these  various  errors  admitted  into  its  constitution  we  may 
doubtless  trace  much  of  the  slow  and  feeble  progress  of  the 
body.  Conventions  never,  even  in  America,  have  com- 
manded the  respect  which  has  always  waited  on  the  per- 
sonal rule  of  a  holy  and  devoted  bishop.  Hence  sprung 
"  angry  contentions"  in  diocesan  meetings,  in  which  "both 
sides  charged  their  adversaries  with  unholy  motives,  and 


*  Anglo-Saxon  Laws,  p.  14 :  a.d.  695. 
t  About  880 :  p.  2o. 


church's   difficulties   in    AMERICA.  191 

disingenuous,  michristian  conduct."*  To  such  a  pitch  did 
these  conflicts  sometimes  rise,  that  \vc  find  them  prevent- 
ing the  possibility  of  the  election  of  a  bishop  from  the  fierce 
opposition  of  contending  factions.  From  this  course,  also, 
there  was  did'used  on  all  sides  amongst  Churchmen  a  low 
estimate  of  God's  gifts,  and  of  the  powers  of  His  spiritual 
kingdom.  Hence  sprung  such  propositions  as,  "  that  the 
canons  should  be  so  modified  as  to  give  rectors  and  vestries 
the  power  of  admitting  to  the  pulpits  of  the  churches 
clergymen  of  other  denominations  ;"t  hence  Avanton  altera- 
tions in  the  creeds  and  Uturgy  ;  hence  a  feeble  and  falter- 
ing tone,  which  soon  infected  thought  and  action,  fii'st 
amongst  the  clergy,  and  then  amongst  the  laity,  and  helped 
on  the  impression,  at  one  time  "  common  in  the  south,  that 
the  Church  v/as  cold  and  lifeless,  and  indifierent  to  the 
religion  of  the  heart. "t 

But  even  as  we  remark  these  errors  in  the  early  or- 
ganization of  this  now  independent  body,  we  must  bear  in 
mind  to  whom  belongs  the  real  fault  implied  in  their  adop- 
tion. It  was  the  Church  and  nation  of  England  wliich 
had  accustomed  these  our  western  sons  to  reverse  the  an- 
cient rule,  and  "  do  everything  in  the  Church  without  the 
bishop."  It  was  our  past  neglect  which  left  them  now  to 
seek  their  princijjles,  and  at  the  same  time  to  set  up  the 
very  framework  of  their  body  spiritual. 

Nor  should  their  peculiar  dilBculties  be  overlooked. 
The  American  revolution  not  only  shook  the  Church  to  its 
base,  but  left  the  minds  of  the  people  disinclined  to  episco- 
pacy, merely  because  it  was  the  form  of  English  religion. 
Even  Churchmen  were  infected  with  this  feeling.  They 
had  known  nothing  of  bishops  except  the  name  ;  and  they 
had  always  associated  their  office  with  the  customs  and 
usages  of  the  mother  country.  Episcopacy  was  commonly 
supposed  to  be  of  necessity  allied  to  monarchy  ;  and  hence 
in  repubUcan  America  the  whole  tide  of  men's  strongest 
passions  set  full  against  it.  Here,  then,  was  a  great  temp- 
tation to  the  framers  of  the  new  ecclesiestical  constitution, 


»  Dr.  Hawks's  Maryland,  p.  389.  f  Ibid.  p.  391. 

^  Ibid.  p.  876. 


192  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

to  mingle,  as  far  as  possible,  the  ruling  principle  of  self-go- 
vernment with  the  fabric  of  the  episcopal  communion. 
They  needed,  undoubtedly,  to  be  reminded,  that  "the  rights 
of  the  Christian  Church  arise,  not  from  nature  or  compact, 
but  fi"om  the  institution  of  Christ  ;  and  that  we  ought  not 
to  alter  them,  but  to  I'eceive  and  maintain  them  as  the 
holy  apostles  left  them.  The  government,  sacraments, 
faith,  and  doctrine  of  the  Church  are  fixed  and  settled.  We 
have  a  right  to  examine  what  they  are,  but  we  must  take 
them  as  they  are."*  They  were  besides  almost  forced  to 
give  their  laymen  too  large  a  share  of  spiritual  government, 
for  they  had  no  bishops  to  I'ule  over  them. 

While,  therefore,  we  regret  the  compromise,  and  see 
too  clearly  the  evils  to  which  it  has  given  birth,  we  must 
rejoice  that  still  more  of  ancient  truth  was  not  lost  in  those 
perilous  times  ;  and  we  hail  with  peculiar  pleasure  many 
after-modifications  of  injurious  practices,  and  many 
gradual  returns  to  higher  and  more  primitive  principles. 
The  Churchmen  of  America  had  amongst  them  the  true 
principle  of  life,  and  the  true  law  for  its  development  ; 
and  year  by  year  they  have  cast  off' some  cause  of  weak- 
ness, and,  through  God's  good  guidance,  carried  on  the 
mighty  work  to  which  His  grace  has  called  them. 

*  Letter  of  Bishop  Seabury  to  Dr.  White. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FROM  1801,  TO  1811-12. 

Death  and  cliaracter  of  Bishop  Seabury — Bishop  Wliite — Bishop 
Provoost — His  character — Resigns  the  episcopal  jurisdiction — No- 
mination and  consecration  of  Bishop  Moore — His  character — Im- 
provement of  the  state  of  the  Church — Maryland — Bishop  Clag- 
gett — Party  spirit — Bishop  Claggett  applies  for  a  Suffragan — 
Division  of  convention  in  1812 — Method  of  electinga  bishop — The 
lait}'  negative  the  nomination  of  the  clergy — Convention  of  1813 
— No  attempt  at  an  election  made — Dr.  Kemp  elected  suffragan 
in  1814 — Consequent  party  feuds — Bishop  Claggett's  death — 
Dr.  Kemp  succeeds — His  death — Renewed  contests  as  to  the  Epis- 
copate— Bishop  Stone  elected — Troubles  on  his  death — The  see 
vacant — State  of  Delaware — No  bishop — Application  to  Mary- 
land— Refused — Decay  of  the  Church  there — And  in  Virginia  — 
Issue  of  the  long  struggle  with  the  Anabaptists  and  others — The 
glebes  confiscated — Prostration  of  the  Church. 

At  the  opening  of  the  new  century  seven  bishops  presided 
in  America  over  their  several  sees.  Of  these,  three  were 
of  European  and  four  of  American  consecration.  The  first 
of  the  four  fathers  of  the  western  episcopate  had  been  al- 
read}',  as  we  have  seen,  gathered  to  his  rest.  Bishop  Sea- 
bury  died  in  1796.  His  death  was  a  heavy  lo.ss  to  his  in- 
fant communion  ;  yet  he  had  Uved  long  enough  to  leave  a 
marked  impress  of  his  character  upon  its  institutions.  His 
influence  was  most  important  whilst  the  foundations  of  the 
ecclesiastical  fabric  were  being  laid.  For  he  was  a  clear- 
sighted man,  of  a  bold  spirit,  and  better  acquainted  than 
any  of  his  coadjutors  with  those  guiding  principles  which 
were  then  especially  required.  His  ov.'n  bias,  indeed,  was 
to  extremes  in  the  very  opposite  direction  from  that  to  which 
their  inclination  led  them.  Trained  amidst  the  New-Eng- 
land sects,  he  had  early  learned  to  vahie  the  distinctive 
features  of  his  om'u  communion  :  and  receiving  consecra- 
9 


194  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

tion  from  the  Scotch  bishops,  the  aflections  of  his  heart 
opened  freely  towards  them,  and  drew  the  whole  bent  of 
his  mind  towards  their  forms  and  practices.  Had  it  been 
left  to  him  alone  to  form  the  temper  and  movild  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  western  Church,  there  would  have  been  little 
hope  of  its  ever  embracing  the  whole  of  the  jealous  popula- 
tion of  that  wide  republic.  But  his  views  M'ere  a  whole- 
some check  upon  those  with  whom  he  had  to  act.  Of  these, 
Bisliop  Madison  had  been  bred  a  lawyer  in  the  worst  days 
of  Virginian  laxity.  He  was  an  elegant  scholar,  a  good 
president  of  a  college,  and  a  mild  and  courteous  gentleman ; 
but  he  had  none  of  the  Christian  learning  and  little  of  the 
untiring  energy  in  action  which  his  difficult  position  ren- 
dered needful.  Bishop  White,  mild,  meek,  and  concilia- 
tory, inclined  always  to  those  councils  which  bore  must 
faintly  the  stamp  of  his  own  communion,  and  fulfilling, 
through  these  qualities,  a  most  important  part  in  the  com- 
mon work,  was  indisposed  by  character  and  temper  from 
taking  resolutely  the  position  which  the  times  required. 
From  that  which  he  was  sure  was  right,  nothing  indeed 
could  move  him ;  but  he  was  naturally  over-tolerant  of  all 
opinions. 

These  very  qualities  made  him  a  inost  useful  coadjutor 
to  the  Bishop  of  Connecticut.  For,  as  it  was  his  great 
endeavor  to  secure  unanimity  of  action,  he  vi^as  ready  to 
take  part  ui  many  things  to  which  he  was  himself  indifier- 
ent,  when  he  saw  his  brother's  earnestness  concerning 
them.  The  same  easy  temper  as  to  things  he  judged  in- 
different, which  would  have  led  him,  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
to  concede  to  the  most  opposite  objections  what  ouglit  not 
to  be  yielded,  now  made  him  take  the  stricter  side  in  mat- 
ters which  he  saw  would  not  be  given  up  by  Bishop  Sea- 
bury.  On  this  principle  he  voted  for  reinserting  in  the 
liturgy  the  Athanasian  Creed,  whilst  he  scrupled  not  to 
say  that  he  would  never  use  it  ;  and  agreed  to  place  in  the 
Communion-office  the  prayers  of  invocation  and  oblation, 
though  he  himself  had  never  regretted  their  omission.  His 
temper  in  these  things  was  of  the  more  importance  from  the 
peculiar  character  of  Bishop  Provoost.  He  was  not  a  man 
to  whom  the  destinies  of  an  infant  Church  could  with 


BISHOP    PROVOOST,  195 

safety  be  committed.  The  whole  tone  of  his  theological 
views  was  cold  and  harsh  ;  and  in  Church  principles  he 
was  remarkably  deficient.  Before  the  revolutionary  war 
he  was  assistant-minister  of  Trinity  Church,  New- York, 
but  had  retired  in  1770  from  the  work,  and  lived  for  four- 
teen years  on  a  small  farm  in  Dutchess  county.*  To  this 
step  he  was  led  in  part  by  his  violent  political  feelings, 
which  made  him  miwilling  to  hold  any  preferment  under 
British  influence,  and  ia  part  by  the  extreme  unpopularity 
of  his  ministry.  It  was  urged  commonly  against  him  that 
he  brought  forward  with  but  little  prominence  those  pe- 
culiar features  of  the  Christian  dispensation  which  are  usu- 
ally distinguished  as  the  doctrines  of  grace.  There  seems 
to  have  been  too  much  foundation  for  the  charge.  The 
language  of  his  own  defence  is  by  no  means  satisfactory. 
He  was  accused,  he  says,  of  endeavoring  to  sap  the  foun- 
dations ot"  Christianity,  because  he  made  a  point  of  preach- 
ing the  doctrines  of  morality,  guarding  his  flock  at  the  same 
time  against  "  placing  such  an  unbounded  reliance  on  the 
merits  of  Christ  as  to  think  their  own  endeavors  quite  un- 
necessary, and  not  in  the  least  available  to  salvation." 
This  language  savors  of  a  most  dangerous  school,  and  im- 
plies no  small  indistinctness  as  to  Christian  truth.  Mo- 
raUty,  indeed,  in  its  highest  sense,  the  Christian  teacher 
must  always  enforce,  and  he  must  lead  men  to  be  most 
strenuous  in  "  their  own  endeavors"  after  salvation, 
"  working"  it  "  out  with  fear  and  trembling  ;"  but  not  as 
if  (which  this  mode  of  speech  implies)  there  were  some 
opposition  between  the  fullest  statement  of  Christian  doc- 
trines and  the  enforcement  of  morality  ;  or  between  la- 
bormg  heartily  themselves,  and  "  placing  an  unbounded 
reliance  on  the  merits  of  Christ." 

He  was  elected  for  consecration  as  the  first  Bishop  of 
New- York,  chiefly,  as  it  seems,  because  his  known  demo- 
cratic opinions  were  likely  to  make  it  an  unsuspected 
and  even  popular  choice.  But  zealous  Christian  men  in 
difl'erent  parts  viewed  the  appointment  with  unfeigned  sor- 
row, fearing  that  he  was  inclined  to  opinions  of  little  less 

*  Life  of  Bishop  Hobart  by  M'Vickar,  p.  296. 


196  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

than  a  Socinlan  character.  His  conduct  during  his  epis- 
copate did  not  materially  lessen  these  impressions  to  his  dis- 
advantage. It  could  not  be  denied  that  he  was  to  a  great 
extent,  cold  and  indistinct  in  doctrine,  distant  and  reserved 
in  personal  bearing,  and  indolent  and  inactive  in  his  work. 
Against  Bishop  Seabury,  whose  opinions  and  character 
were  ine  very  respect  most  unlike  his  own,  he  was  strongly 
prejudiced,  and  long  denied  the  validity  of  his  consecra- 
tion, even  though  in  this  he  stood  almost  alone  amongst 
his  own  clei'gy,  and  when  the  neighboring  states  had 
received  as  pastors  those  whom  his  eastern  brother  had 
ordained.  Most  happily  for  the  infant  Church,  the  mild 
urbanity  of  Bishop  White  checked  this  discord  and  prevented 
the  threatened  separation ;  and  from  this  time,  though  there 
was  little  sympathy  of  feeling,  yet  they  acted  in  concert 
till  the  death  of  Bishop  Seabviry  in  1786.  Bishop  Pro- 
voost's  own  public  life  lasted  little  longer.  In  September 
1800  he  resigned  the  incumbency  of  Trinity  chvirch  ;  and 
in  the  following  year  he  called  together  the  diocesan  con- 
vention, and  resigned  to  it  his  episcopal  jurisdiction.  Dif- 
ferent causes  led  him  to  this  step.  He  had  little  sense  of 
the  spiritual  greatness  of  his  charge,  no  burning  ardor  in  ful- 
filHng  it ;  its  duties  pressed  heavily  upon  an  inactive  tem- 
perament ;  he  had  long  withdrawn  himself  from  all  but 
those  which  he  could  not  escape  ;  and  the  loss  of  his  wife 
in  1799,  and  his  son  in  1800,  induced  him  at  once  to  re- 
tire from  the  discharge  of  an  office  which  he  felt  to  be  an 
irksome  burden  rather  than  a  blessinjr. 

His  resignation  led  to  anxious  debates  in  the  general 
convention,  and  the  house  of  bishops  refused  to  allow  what 
they  thought  might  be  an  unseemly  and  inconvenient  pre- 
cedent. They  acted,  however,  so  far  upon  it,  that  they 
agreed  to  consecrate  Dr.  Benjamin  Moore  as  his  assistant 
now,  and  his  successor  at  his  death.  Much  good  resulted 
from  this  choice.  Bishop  Moore  M^as  a  man  of  tender  gen- 
tleness of  character  ;  and  the  vigor  and  determination  of 
his  successor  would  probably  have  suited  the  temper  of 
events  less  than  his  Avinning  mildness.  Under  the  rule  of 
his  predecessor  all  had  been  dormant,  if  not  apathetic.  Of 
this  lethargic  character  had  been  his  temper  who  should 


BISHOP   CLAGGETT.  197 

have  been,  the  spring  of  life  and  energy  in.  others.  Bare 
toleration  seemed  to  Bishop  Provoost  all  that  could  be  hoped 
for  by  a  body  branded  with  the  stigma  of  British  descent. 
They  who  invite  suspicion  and  contempt  are  seldom  slow 
in  meeting  with  them.  So  it  was  now  :  common  opinion 
looked  suspiciously  upon  the  Church,  and  the  sense  of  this 
oppressed  its  members.  Neither  the  clergy  nor  the  laity 
ever  rose  under  him  to  any  sense  of  the  importance  of  their 
position.  The  apostolic  gentleness  of  Bishop  Moore  brooded 
with  a  loving  energy  over  the  scattered  and  disheartened 
flock,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a  better  state  of  things. 
During  the  ten  years  of  his  episcopate,  though  there  was 
little  evident  increase,  there  was  a  gradual  upgrowth  of 
sounder  principles  within  his  diocese. 

On  no  other  side  was  there  the  same  amount  of  promise. 
Maryland*  was  at  this  time,  and  until  1816,  under  the 
charge  of  Bishop  Claggett,  a  mild  and  courteous  ruler,  and 
a  zealous  Christian  minister  ;  but  wanting  somewhat  of 
that  habitual  firmness  which  was  needful  to  give  tone  to 
his  episcopate.  His  flock,  as  we  have  seen,t  was  in  a  lan- 
guishing condition  ;  it  was,  moreover,  sorely  harrassed  by 
internal  disputes  ;  parties  ran  high  within  it,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  the  unity  of  the  spirit  had  departed  from  the  land. 
Bishop  Claggett  could  scarcely  repress  the  feuds  which 
were  rife  among  his  clergy ;  and  as  soon  as  opportunity  al- 
lowed, they  broke  out  into  visible  dissensions. 

The  opportunity  too  soon  occurred.  For  twenty  years 
Bishop  Claggett  had  been  overburthened  by  the  united 
weight  of  those  cares  which  belong  to  a  laborious  parish 
priest  and  those  which  press  upon  a  faithful  bishop.  Such 
an  incongruous  union,  which  breaks  down  prematurely 
the  best  men,  is  almost  universal  in  America.  While 
i,he  fear  of  exalting  the  class  of  prelates  has  led  some  con- 
ventions (that,  for  instance,  of  Virginia)  to  make  the  reten- 
tion of  a  parish-cure  imperative  upon  a  bishop,  the  need  of 
securing  a  certain  income  to  support  the  episcopate  has 
made  this  the  general  custom.     "  Episcopal  funds,"  to 


*  From  Dr.  Hawks's  Memorials,  Maryland,  Preface, 
f  P.  176. 


198  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

meet  this  want,  have,  indeed,  often  been  proposed ;  but, 
except  in  the  diocese  of  New  York,  they  have  never  met 
with  full  success  ;  and  thus  they  on  whom  is  laid  the 
charge  of  government  and  the  daily  "care  of  all  the 
churches,"  are  obliged,  at  the  same  time,  to  serve  the  most 
laborious  cures  in  order  to  secure  themselves  a  necessary 
income. 

Worn  out  by  such  labors,  yet  unwilling  wholly  to  desert 
his  post.  Bishop  Claggett,  after  twenty  years  of  service,  ap- 
plied, in  1812,  for  a  sufli-agan  to  share  his  toils.  The  right 
of  electing  a  bishop  is  lodged  by  the  constitution  of  the  Ame- 
rican Church  m  the  diocesan  convention ;  their  choice  is 
submitted  to  the  general  convention,  if  it  be  the  year  of  its 
session,  and  if  approved  by  it,  is  acted  on  by  the  bishops. 
In  the  recesses  of  the  general  convention,  a  majority  of  the 
"  standing  conmiittees"  of  all  the  dioceses  in  union  must 
approve  of  the  choice  before  the  bishops  consecrate.  By  the 
rule  of  election  in  the  state  of  Maryland,  a  vote  by  ballot  of 
two-thirds  of  the  clergy  in  session  nominates  the  clergyman 
to  fill  the  vacant  see  :  this  nomination  then  becomes  the  sub- 
ject of  a  ballot  among  the  lay  deputies  ;  and  if  two-thirds  of 
them  approve  of  it,  the  bishop  elect  is  nominated  to  the  pre- 
sident of  the  house  of  bishops,  who  collects  the  opinions 
either  of  that  body  or  of  the  standing  committees  of  the 
union. 

When  Bishop  Claggett's  message  reached  the  diocesan 
convention,  they  proceeded  to  a  ballot,  and  Dr.  Kemp  was 
nominated  for  the  office.  He  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  born 
of  pious  parents  attached  to  the  Presbyterian  kirk.  What 
first  changed  his  religious  views  is  now  entirely  unknown. 
In  his  youth  the  Episcopal  oommunion  was  oppressed  in 
Scotland  by  the  severest  penal  laws  ;  and  when  he  was  first 
permitted  to  attend  its  services,  he  was  wont  to  be  led  blind- 
fold to  the  house  of  prayer,  lest  he  should  afterwards  prove 
a  traitor,  and  expose  his  fellow- worshippers  to  the  severe 
enactments  of  a  persecuting  code.  Probably  this  attach- 
ment to  the  Church  led  to  his  emigration  to  America. 
Here  he  lived  for  some  years  as  private  tutor  in  a  respect- 
able family  of  Maryland ;  in  1789  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop 
White  both  deacon  and  priest ;  and  having  been  the  year 


BISHOP    KEMP's    ELECTION.  199 

before  chosen  to  the  associate  rectorship  of  St.  Paul's,  Balti- 
more, was  now,  by  a  majority  of  clerical  suffrages,  nomi- 
nated as  assistant  bishop  to  Dr.  Clagijott.  This  nomina- 
tion, however,  was  negatived  by  the  Jay  delegates,  and  the 
convention  adjourned  before  any  choice  was  made.  At  the 
convention  of  the  following  year  the  equal  strength  of  tlie 
two  parties  prevented  all  attempts  to  make  a  nomination ; 
and  when,  in  1814,  Dr.  Kemp's  election  was  cai'ried  by  a 
constitutional  majority,  the  defeated  party  charged  his 
friends  with  the  grossest  fraud,  and  stirred  up  a  bitter  and 
lastmg  opposition  to  the  elected  suliragan.  He,  however, 
made  good  his  ground.  The  house  of  bishops  rejected  a 
protest  laid  before  them  by  his  enemies  ;  and  in  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  diocese  of  Maryland,  which  was  specially  com- 
mitted to  him,  his  temper  and  his  zeal  soon  gained  him 
the  esteem  of  all  good  men. 

Yet  the  embers  of  ill-will  which  had  been  stirred  up 
in  this  contest  broke  out  afresh  mto  a  flame  at  every  op- 
portunity. A  party  in  the  Church  besought  Dr.  Provoost, 
the  retired  bishop  of  New- York,  to  consecrate  one  of  their 
number  in  opposition  to  Bishop  Kemp  ;  and  the  strife  was 
not  allayed  till  it  had  led  to  the  suspension  of  the  chief  op- 
ponent of  the  choice  ;  and  even  then  it  only  slept.  Bishop 
Kemp,  indeed,  succeeded  without  question  to  the  see  on 
Dr.  Claggett's  death;  but  when  he  in  turn  was,  in  1827,* 
gathered  to  his  fathers,  the  strife  was  renewed.  In  the 
convention  of  the  following  year  three  fruitless  attempts  to 
nominate  a  bishop  prolonged  the  strife  ;  five  such  followed 
in  the  convention  of  1829.  In  1830,  a  compromise  between 
the  hostile  parties  seated  Dr.  Stone  upon  the  bishop's  seat, 
which  for  full  seven  years  he  occupied  with  a  meek  quiet- 
ness which  might  have  stilled  the  spirit  of  division ;  but 
the  meeting  of  convention  shortly  after  his  death,  soon 
showed  that  it  was  unallayed.  The  sjTiod  was  opened 
with  a  most  touching  address,  prepared  for  deUvery  by 
Bishop  Stone ;  but  now,  in  consequence  of  his  decease, 
read  by  another.     From  its  words  of  peace  the  convention 

*  Bishop  Kemp's  death  -was  sudden  and  violent,  owing  to  the 
overturning  of  the  carriage  in  which  he  was  returning  from  the  gene- 
ral convention. 


200  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

passed  to  bitterness  and  strife.  Each  party  put  its  candi- 
date in  nomination  ;  and  though  the  two  principals  agreed 
in  recommending  a  third  party  for  the  office,  their  adher- 
ents would  permit  no  compromise.  After  twenty  fruitless 
ballothigs,  a  bishop  was  still  unappointed.  The  see  Avas 
declined  by  one  presbyter  of  New- York  (Dr.  Eastburn), 
and  one  missionary  bishop  (Dr.  Kemper),  and  in  183S  was 
still  untenanted. 

In  all  this  narrative  we  seem  scarcely  to  be  reading  the 
annals  of  that  Church  which  glories  in  possessing  the 
apostles'  "  doctrine  and  fello-wship."  Rather  do  we  seem 
engaged  with  the  perverse  wranglings  of  the  adherents  of 
some  worldly  sect.  But  it  is,  in  fact,  a  striking  comment 
on  that  intertwining  of  lower  principles  with  the  single 
thread  of  apostolic  order  which  weakened  at  so  many  points 
the  Western  Church.  It  was  the  result  of  allowing  men 
to  organise  themselves,  and  so  become  and  remain  a  head- 
less diocese  ;  instead  of  sending  the  Church  to  them  as  the 
constituted  ordinance  of  God. 

While  there  was  this  distempered  life  in  Maryland,  in 
the  neighboring  state  of  Delaware  there  was  almost  the 
apathy  of  death.  This  was  one  of  those  American  ano- 
malies— a  diocese  without  a  bishop.  It  seems  to  have 
been  constituted  a  diocese  in  1785  ;  but  the  episcopal  chair 
had  never  yet  been  filled.  The  cause  of  this  does  not  ap- 
pear ;  but  it  was  probably  the  want  of  funds  to  support 
the  office.  In  1803,  Delaware  proposed  to  the  Maryland 
convention,  that  the  eastern  shore  of  that  state  shoiild  with 
itself  constitute  a  new  diocese.  The  application  was  de- 
clined ;  and  with  it  seem  to  have  ended  all  their  eflbrts  for 
this  object.  Religion  was  at  the  lowest  ebb.  Before  the 
Revolution,  matters  had  been  widely  different.  Numer- 
ous congregations  had  been  wont,  throughout  that  district,  to 
worship  in  goodly  churches  their  fathers'  God.  Of  these 
buildings  many  have  perished  utterly  ;  many  are  still  in 
ruins.  "The  traveller,"  says  Dr.  Hawks,*  "in  going 
down  the  line  that  separates  Delaware  from  Maryland, 
might  at  a  recent  period  have  seen  within  a  few  miles  of 

*  Memorials  of  Maryland,  p.  354, 


CHURCHES   IN   RUIN.  201 

that  line  the  tottering  remains  of  five  churches,  and  the 
spots  on  which  had  stood  three  or  four  others.  There  are 
few  things  more  calculated  to  touch  the  soul  of  a  pious 
Churchman  than  to  journey  over  those  southern  states,  and 
to  mark  the  crumbhng  remains  of  ruined  temples  that  at- 
test the  piety  of  our  forefathers.  More  than  once  have  we 
paused  in  our  travel  to  step  aside,  and  stand  alone  within 
the  roofless  and,  perchance,  shattered  walls  of  some  house 
of  God  that  caught  our  eye  and  lured  us  from  the  road. 
There  is  a  sermon  in  the  very  stillness  of  the  quiet  air 
around  the  hallowed  spot,  as  one  sits  down  on  some  half- 
sunken  tombstone,  and,  in  the  calm  loveliness  of  one  of 
those  bright  and  beautiful  days  that  belong  to  a  southern 
clime,  calls  up  the  scene  of  former  times,  and  fills  that 
forsaken  church  with  the  worshippers  of  a  buried  genera- 
tion." 

The  state  of  tilings  in  Delaware  was  desolate  indeed. 
The  whole  peninsula  on  which  it  stands, — which  includes 
the  state  of  Delaware,  the  east  shore  of  Maryland,  and  two 
counties  of  Virginia, — contained,  at  the  time  of  making  this 
request,  but  nineteen  clergymen.  In  1827  they  had  dwin- 
dled to  fifteen  ;  and  there  was  still  almost  forty  churches 
in  a  fit  state  for  worship,  surviving  the  wreck  of  time  to 
testify  agamst  a  love  which  had  grown  cold,  and  a  candle- 
stick already  well  removed  from  its  place,  It  is  surely 
worth  notice,  that  the  districts  in  which  Church  principles 
had  long  been  lowest  were  those  in  which  piety  the  soon- 
est flagged.  So  it  was  in  Maryland,  and  so  it  was  in  the 
neighboring  diocese  of  Virginia.  From  this  state  had  come 
the  strongest  opposition  to  the  distinctive  features  of  the 
Church.  It  was  a  Virginian  deputy  who  proposed  to  omit 
the  first  four  petitions  of  the  Litany  ;  it  was  Virginia  which 
resisted  the  rubric  allowing  the  clergy  to  expel  unfit  com- 
municants ;  it  was  Virginia  which  sent  as  lay  deputy  to 
the  general  convention  a  priest  who  had  abandoned  his 
orders  ;  Virginia  headed  the  opposition  to  the  Athanasian 
Creed  ;  directed  her  representative,  by  an  unanimous  vote, 
to  express  "  the  highest  disapprobation"  of  the  proposed 
allowance  of  a  negative  to  the  house  of  bishops  ;  and  de- 
clared her  bishops  "  amenable  to  their  conventions  ;"  it  was 
9* 


202  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

in  Virginia  that  clergymen  were  found  who  began  to  sub- 
stitute extemporaneous  prayer  for  the  appointed  Litany  ;* 
it  was  in  Virginia,  also,  that  deadness  to  all  spiritual  things 
was  the  most  perceptible.  One  name  amongst  her  clergy 
is  still  fresh  in  the  grateful  remembrance  of  the  few  sur- 
viving members  of  his  flock.  Devereux  Jarratt,  ordained 
in  London  in  1762,  returned  the  same  year  to  Virginia  ; 
and  till  his  death,  in  1801,  never  ceased  doing  faithfully 
the  work  of  an  evangelist.  Earnest,  simple,  and  eminently 
heavenly-minded,  his  ministry  was  greatly  blessed  by  God  ; 
"  his  converts  were  exceedmgly  numerous  ;  and  a  few 
aged  disciples  still  living  in  Virginia  acknowledge  him  as 
their  spiritual  father."!  But,  alas,  he  seems  long  to  have 
stood  literally  alone  ;  "at  his  first  answer  no  man  stood 
with  him  :"  and  the  final  loss  of  the  glebes  almost  made 
the  Church  low. 

This  disastrous  conclusion  of  the  Ions:  struggle  between 
their  united  enemies  and  Churchmen  took  place  in  the  year 

1801.  Its  last  stages  were  remarkable.  In  1799  an  act 
had  passed  the  assembly  of  Virginia,  professedly  intended 
"  to  declare  the  construction  of  the  bill  of  rights  and  con- 
stitution concerning  religion  ;"  but  really  meant  to  repeal 
every  act  favorable  to  the  Church  which  had  passed  since 
the  Revolution.     This  was  followed  by  another  in  January 

1802,  by  which  it  was  declared  that  the  title  to  the  pro- 
perty the  Church  had  held  before  the  Revolution  was  vested 
in  the  state  at  large  ;  and  that,  whenever  they  were  va- 
cant, the  glebes  should  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  of 
the  parish.  Under  this  law  those  acts  which  always  mark 
confiscation  followed.  The  glebes  were  sold  at  prices  merely 
nominal  ;  and  the  small  sums  which  did  accrue  from  them 
flowed  into  various  channels  of  private  profit.  The  church- 
yards, and  the  churches  with  their  furniture,  were  exempt- 
ed from  the  operations  of  this  law  ;  yet  they,  and  even  the 
communion-plate,  were  seized  and  sold.  The  fruits  of  this 
confiscation  are  still  to  be  found.  "  Within  our  own  time," 
says  Dr.  Hawks,  "  a  reckless  sensualist  has  administered 

*  Dr.  Hawks's  Memorials,  Virginia,  pp.  269,  270. 
t  Henahaw's.  Life  of  Bp.  Moore,  p.  15. 


CinmCH    PROPERTY    CONFISCATED.  203 

the  morning  dram  to  his  guests  from  the  silver  cup  which 
has  often  contained  the  consecrated  symbol  of  his  Saviour's 
blood.  In  another  instance  the  entire  set  of  communion- 
plate  of  one  of  the  old  churches  is  in  the  hands  of  one  who 
belongs  to  the  society  of  Baptists."  The  Bishop  of  Virgi- 
nia, when  on  his  visitation,  has  witnessed  the  conversion  of 
a  marble  baptismal  font  into  a  trough  for  horses.* 

The  act  under  which  these  ollences  were  committed 
did  not  pass  without  a  struggle.  AVhen  adopted,  its  consti- 
tutional legality  was  questioned,  and  its  enforcement  resisted 
by  processes  of  law.  The  decision  of  the  lower  courts  was 
on  the  side  of  confiscation.  This  judgment  was  carried  by 
appeal  before  the  highest  tribunal  of  Virginia.  This  court 
consisted  of  five  judges,  of  whom  four  only  (one  as  a 
Churchman,  deeming  himself  an  interested  party)  sat  upon 
this  trial.  Of  these  Judge  Pendleton  was  by  seniority  the 
president.  His  judgment,  and  that  of  two  of  his  assessors, 
was  against  the  courts  l)elow ;  and  he  was  about  to  reverse 
the  previous  sentence,  and  so,  in  fact,  repeal  this  most  in- 
jurious law.  The  morning  came  on  which  the  final  sen- 
tence was  to  be  pronounced,  when  Judge  Pendleton,  who 
was  already  past  iburscore,  was  found  dead  in  his  bed  from 
a  stroke  of  apoplexy.  In  his  pocket  was  discovered  the 
decision  which  another  day  would  have  made  law,  secur- 
ing to  the  Church  the  full  possession  of  her  glebes  ;  but  it 
had  not  been  pronounced,  and  so  was  void  of  all  authority. 
The  case  was  heard  again  before  Judge  Pendleton's  suc- 
cessor. His  judgment  was  the  other  way  ;  and  thus  (Judge 
Fleming  still  refusing  to  take  part)  the  court  was  equally 
divided.  The  decree  from  beluw  was  therefore  officially 
confirmed,  and  its  property  taken  for  ever  from  the  Church. 

Some  good  and  wise  end  was  doubtless  answered  by 
this  reverse ;  but  its  present  effect  was  most  disastrous. 
It  extinguished  wholly  the  spirit  of  Churchmen,  and  was 
followed  by  a  complete  prostration  of  hope  and  exertion. 
How  entire  this  was  has  been  already  seen.  One  more 
instance  may  be  mentioned.!     lu  the  year  1722,  within 

*  Hawk's  Virginia,  p.  236. 
f  Ibid.  p.  267. 


204  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

six  counties  of  Avliat  is  termed  the  northern  neck  of  Virginia, 
there  were  more  than  twelve  churches,  all  supplied  with 
the  ministrations  of  the  Gospel.  Almost  a  hundred  years 
had  passed,  and  instead  of  any  growth  throughout  an  ex- 
tent of  country  one  hundred  miles  long  and  fifteen  broad, 
every  church  and  chapel  had  been  forsaken.  The  road  to 
the  Chesapeake  was  studded  with  mouldering  ruins  of  what 
had  once  been  houses  of  the  Lord  ;  and  if  here  and  there 
one  or  two  seemed  at  first  sight  to  maintain  their  fair  pro- 
portions, a  closer  examination  showed  that  it  was  only  that 
the  piety  of  earlier  days  had  built  them  of  a  massive 
strength,*  which  had  enabled  them  thus  long  to  resist  the 
injuries  of  time. 

Such  was  the  deadly  trance  which  had  fallen  on  the 
Church.  From  such  a  state  Bishop  Madison  was  not  the 
man  to  rouse  it.  He  was  an  elegant  scholar,  with  no 
great  warmth  of  Christian  character,  and  a  low  estimate 
of  the  spiritual  power  inherent  in  the  office  which  he  held. 
How  far  he  was  fit  to  discharge  its  arduous  duties  in  that 
day  of  reproach,  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  he 
obtained  the  eulogies  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  deist  in  re- 
ligion, and  in  politics  the  man  who  purchased  the  votes  of 
the  opponents  of  the  Churchf  by  so  framing  the  constitu- 
tion of  Virginia  as  to  refuse  corporate  powers  to  all  religious 
societies,  and  thus  prevent  their  holding  property  at  all. 
Bishop  Madison  seems  to  have  felt  his  own  unfitness  for 
the  post  he  filled.  At  first,  indeed,  he  manifested  some 
activity ;  but  his  early  efforts  were  not  crowned  with  suc- 
cess, and  he  had  not  energy  enough  to  persevere  without 
such  direct  and  sensible  encouragement.  In  1805  he  ap- 
plied to  his  diocese  for  an  assistant  bishop  ;  the  subject  was 
deferred  until  the  convention  reassembled  in  the  following 
year.  It  was  never  resumed ; — for  the  convention  never 
sat  again  within  his  lifetime.  During  fifteen  years  of  his 
Episcopate  the  state  of  things  grew  more  and  more  disas- 
trous :  "he  seemed  to  be  like  a  pilot  with  his  ship  amongst 

*  These  churches  are  built  of  bricks  which  were  brought  from  tlie 
mother  country.  Many  such  still  remain,  needing  little  more  than 
a  roof  to  render  them  fit  for  immediate  use. 

+  Voice  from  America,  p.  SO. 


DARK    DAYS    OF    THE    CHURCH.  205 

the  breakers,  who  in  despair  resigns  the  helm,  in  expecta- 
tion that  his  noble  barque  will  soon  be  stranded  as  a  shat- 
tered wreck  upon  the  shore."* 

"  It  was  the  dark  day  of  the  Church,  when  all  slum- 
bered and  slept."!  They  owed  their  awakening  from 
this  slumber  to  that  office  which  Virginia  had  so  greatly 
undervalued  ;  for  it  may  be  clearly  traced,  under  the  bless- 
ing of  Almighty  God,  to  the  appointment  and  devoted 
labors  of  another  bishop. 

*  Dr.  Henshaw's  Life  of  Bishop  Moore,  p.  112. 
f  Dr.  Hawks, 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1811,  12. 

Death  of  Bp.  Madison — Renewal  of  diocesan  convention — Election 
of  Dr.  Bracken  to  the  episcopate — He  refuses  it — Dr.  Moore  elec- 
ted— His  early  life — Ministerial  success — He  visits  the  diocese — 
Stirs  up  the  spirit  of  Churchmen — Revival  of  the  Church — Growth 
of  Church  principles — Improved  canons — Theological  seminary 
founded — And  poor  scholars'  fund — Dr.  Meade  elected  Suffragan, 
with  a  restriction— Conduct  of  the  house  of  bishops — Removal  of 
restrictions — Bishop  B.  Moore  of  New-York  applies  for  an  assist- 
ant bisliop — Dr.  J.  H.  Hobart  elected — His  origin  and  youth — 
First  ministerial  charge  in  Pennsylvania — Removes  to  New-York 
— His  .studies — Publications— Services  in  state  and  general  conven- 
tion— Controversy  with  Dr.  Mason — Elected  bishop — Opposition — 
Bishop  Provoost's  claim  to  the  bishopric  of  New  York — Disallow- 
ed by  the  convention — Bishop  White's  treatment  of  Bishop 
Hobart— And  high  esteem  for  him. 

The  dark  day  throagli  which  our  recent  history  has  taken 
us  began  at  last  to  break  away,  and,  at  the  period  we  have 
reached,  the  sky  already  glowed  in  many  dillerent  direc- 
tions. The  old  generation  was  passing  away.  The  deists 
who,  with  Thomas  Jefferson  to  head  them,  had  long  held 
undisputed  sway,  no  longer  carried  every  thing  before  them. 
There  had  been  a  secret  upgrowth  of  a  better  race,  and  in 
the  Church,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  men  of  another  temper 
took  their  places  on  the  stage.  Both  among  the  laity  and^ 
clergy,  the  cold  and  timid  councils  of  the  former  genera- 
tion were  beginning  to  give  way  to  energy  and  zeal.  In 
Virginia,  Bishop  Madison  expired  in  March  1812  ;  and  the 
first  sign  of  vitality  within  the  diocese  was  the  meeting  of 
the  convention  to  elect  his  successor.  It  was  now  seven 
years  since  it  had  assembled  ;  and  in  a  state  which  of  old 
could  number  its  hundred  clergy,  and  which  required  the 
attendance  of  fifteen  to  make  a  quorum,  and  the  presence 


ELECTION    OF    DR.    MOOUE.  207 

of  twenty-five  to  pass  any  canon,  thirteen  clergymen  and 
twelve  laymen  were  all  wlio  could  be  brouj^lit  together,* 
Having  voted  nine  a  quorum,  they  proceeded  to  elect  a 
bishop,  and  chose  Dr.  Bracken.  When  the  convention  met 
the  following  year  (1813),  it  was  to  hear  that  Dr.  Bracken 
had  declined  their  otler.  This  was  a  disheartening  answer. 
The  few  who  had  assembled  did  not  proceed  to  make  an- 
other choice  ;  but  feeling  strongly  their  well-nigli  hopeless 
destitution,  they  drew  up  an  address  urging  on  their  brethren 
the  duty  of  making  fresh  exertions  in  their  common  cause. 
This  "  most  earnestly  entreated  them  to  consider  the 
necessity  of  adopting  zealous  measures  for  the  restoration  of 
religion,"  especially  as,  "  from  the  destitute  state  of  the 
churches,  many  piously  disposed  persons  who  were  attached 
to  the  doctrine,  worship,  and  discipline  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  were  deprived  of  the  means  of  worship- 
ping God  according  to  her  venerable  forms,  to  the  great 
uiiliappiness  of  themselves,  as  well  as  to  the  great  detri- 
ment of  the  Church  at  large  ;"  it  besought  them  "  to  raise 
a  fund  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  support  of  such  cler- 
gymen of  piety  and  talents  as  may  be  obtained  to  perform 
divine  service  in  such  districts  in  the  state  as  may  be 
assigned  to  them  by  the  convention." 

In  May  1814  the  annual  convention  re-assembled  ; 
seven  clergymen  and  seventeen  laymen  met  in  council,! 
and  proceeded  to  elect  a  bishop.  They  felt  the  great  im- 
portance of  the  crisis,  and  looked  far  around  them  for  the 
qualities  they  needed.  They  plainly  saw  that  it  was  not 
a  time  when  a  merely  blameless  life  or  classical  attain- 
ments would  be  enough  for  hun  who,  amidst  their  busy 
and  disordered  population,  was  to  sit  on  the  apostles'  seat. 
After  full  deliberation,  they  elected  Dr.  Richard  Moore, 
rector  of  St.  Stephen's  church,  in  the  city  of  New- York. 
They  had  been  guided  to  a  happy  choice.  Dr.  Moore  had 
received  a  classical  education,  but  at  the  close  of  the  war 
of  independence  he  entered  on  the  medical  profession,  and 
followed  it  for  nearly  nine  years.     His  childJiood  had  been 

*  Journals  of  Virijinian  Convention,  p.  181. 
f  Vide  supra,  p.  239. 


208  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

marked  by  sincere  and  decided  piety  ;  and  though  this  had 
seemed  for  a  while  "  choked"  by  the  cares  of  other  things, 
and  he  entered  upon  Hfe  too  much  hke  other  men,  yet  he 
was  not  long  suHered  to  wander,  but  in  early  manhood 
was  recalled  to  the  service  of  the  Cross.  For  a  while  he 
contiimed  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  but  his  soul  now 
thirsted  for  the  labors  and  rewards  of  the  Christian  minis- 
try ;  and  at  the  time  of  the  Church's  most  entire  prostra- 
tion, when  there  was  least,  in  possession  or  in  prospect,  to 
gratify  ambition,  he  yielded  to  those  guiding  impulses, 
quitted  his  more  lucrative  profession,  and  determined  to 
prepare  for  holy  orders.  In  1787  he  was  admitted  deacon 
by  Bishop  Provoost,  being  the  first  ordained  by  him, — the 
first  therefore  ever  set  apart  lor  this  high  calling  in  New- 
York, — and  making  then  the  sixth  clergyman  in  that  large 
diocese,  which  has  now  for  several  years  numbered  more 
than  its  200.  The  blessing  of  a  religious  youth  rested  on 
the  new-made  deacon  ;  within  this  same  Church  he  had 
been  baptised  into  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  confirmed,  in 
due  season,  in  the  faith,  and  first  admitted  to  the  holy 
eucharist.  From  it  he  went  forth  to  his  work  in  the  fulness 
of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  peace.  His  first  field  of 
labor  was  on  Staten  Island,  where  for  one-and-twenty  years 
he  was  rector  of  St.  Andrew's.  An  unusual  increase 
crowned  his  ministerial  labors  ;  although  he  raised  before 
his  flock  a  high  standard  of  pastoral  piety,  yet  no  fewer 
than  100  new  communicants  were  gathered  in  one  year 
around  the  altar  of  his  church.  In  1809  he  mcved  to  St. 
Stephen's,  on  the  outskirts  of  his  native  city  of  New-York. 
Here  all  was  yet  in  its  infancy.  About  thirty  families  at- 
tended, and  the  communicants  numbered  not  more  than 
twenty.  For  five  years  he  labored  among  them  ;  and  when 
called  to  the  Virginian  episcopate,  he  left  behind  him  a 
body  of  400  communicants. 

When  the  see  was  first  ofl'ered  to  him,  he  shrunk  from 
the  charge,  and  refused  to  leave  New- York.  Many  cir- 
cumstances added  weight  to  that  Christian  diffidence  which 
might  well  lead  any  man  to  shun,  as  far  as  lawfully  he 
may,  the  perilous  height  of  the  episcopate.  Moore,  though 
devoted  with  all  the  ardor  of  feelings  more  than  usually 


CHAHACTER    OF    BISHOP    MOORE.  209 

warm  to  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  gospel  of  God's 
grace,  and  even  laboring  from  this  cause  under  some  re- 
proach from  men  of  a  colder  and  more  unimpassioned  tem- 
per, was  yet  conscientiously  attached  to  the  distinctive 
principles  of  his  own  communion.  Previous  to  his  settling 
thei-e,  the  chief  families  of  Richmond  had  formed  "  a  kind 
of  joint  spii-itual  charge,  watched  over  with  alternate  ser- 
vices by  an  Episcopalian  and  a  Presbyterian."*  The 
invitations  which  he  now  received  hinted  at  the  probable 
e.x;pedieney  of  some  concessions  to  sectarian  feelings,  and 
took  for  granted  from  his  well-known  character,  that  he 
would  be  a  likely  man  to  further  their  adoption.  It  was 
notorious  that  there  were  points  on  which  his  judgment 
had  ditlered  widely  from  that  of  Bishop  Hobart ;  that  he 
had  encouraged,  under  due  restrictions,  social  meetings  for 
prayer ;  that  he  favored  meetings  of  the  clergy  for  the  pur- 
pose of  devotion  ;  and  that  he  maintained  such  doctrine  as 
found  utterance  in  the  following  letter  to  his  future  coadju- 
tor : — "  That  we  are  too  cold  is  a  solemn  truth.  To  remedy 
this  evil  is  in  our  power,  provided  we  will  seek  the  aid  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit  in  sincere  and  fervent  prayer  ;  and  I  am 
persuaded  that  if  we  honestly  call  upon  God  to  assist  us 
with  His  grace,  and  honestly  preach  His  own  "word,  He 
will  make  that  word  quick  and  powerful  to  the  conversion 
of  those  who  hear  it. "t  But  these  principles  implied  no 
bias  to  sectarian  views  :  and  so  his  correspondents  soon 
discovered. 

"  The  state,"  they  tell  him,  "of  the  Church  in  Virginia 
is  indeed  most  deplorable.  The  desolations  of  many  gene- 
rations are  to  be  repaired — now  is  the  trying  and  critical 
moment — now  is  to  be  decided  whether  God  means  to  keep 
a  remnant  of  our  Church  alive  among  us,  or  to  destroy  it 
entirely.  The  town  of  Richmond  contains  by  far  the 
largest  body  of  Episcopalians  in  the  southern  country.  If 
some  one  of  suitable  talents  and  real  piety  does  not  go  there, 
it  will  either  fall  into  the  hands  of  some  miserable  creature 
(many  of  whom  have  already  been  fawning  for  it),  or,  if  a 

*  Life  of  Bishop  Moore. 

t  Letter  to  ilr.,  afterwards  Bishop  Meade, — Life  of  Bishop  Moore, 
p.  98.    The  capitals  are  the  bishop's. 


210  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

clever  Presbyterian  should  offer,  tliey  will  throw  away  Epis- 
copacy, and  fall  under  his  banners.    And  if  Episcopacy  dies 

there  at  the  heart,  of  course  it  dies  elsewhere Certain 

I  am,  that  unless  we  have  a  bishop  of  real  piety,  zeal,  and 
talents  in  Richmond,  Episcopacy  is  gone  for  ever." 

The  apprehension  of  these  dangers  so  fully  occupied 
the  minds  of  these  good  men  as  to  incline  them  to  attempt 
to  ti'ead  the  fatal  path  of  compromise  and  false  conciliation. 
"  The  Church,"  they  say,  "  in  Virginia,"  (for  it  is  always 
under  this  delusion  that  this  temptation  is  disguised),  "  is 
in  a  peculiar  situation.  Its  having  been  once  the  estab- 
lished Church,  the  prevalence  and  virulence  of  other  deno- 
minations, the  sequestration  of  its  glebes,  the  irregularity  of 
the  lives  of  its  ministers,  and  various  political  causes,  have 
combined  to  swell  high  the  tide  of  public  opinion,  and  in- 
deed of  odium,  against  her  public  form  of  service,  her  sur- 
plices, and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  clerical  costume 

Under  these  circumstances,  to  hearts  thus  constructed, 
it  appears  to  me  that  no   man  can   carry  out  our  forms  in 

all  their  rubrical  vigor  with  any  prospect  of  success 

We  want  a  bishop  who  wiU  watch  over  his  clergy  with 
tears  and  tenderness  ;  who  will  be  an  example  as  well  as 
teacher  to  his  flock  ;'Avho  will  know  nothing  amongst  us 
save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified ;  and  who,  whilst  he 
inculcates  a  due  reverence  for  our  venerable  forms  of  doc- 
trine, discipline,  and  Avor.ship,  as  being  of  apostolic  author- 
ity, will  at  the  same  time  direct  his  best  endeavors  towards 
the  end  of  all  religious  institutions,  namely,  the  deliver- 
ance of  immortal  souls  from  hell.  Such  a  bishop  will  have 
our  co-operation,  our  love,  and  our  prayers." 

The  temptation  was  here  masked  in  much  to  which 
the  warm  heart  of  Moore  was  sure  readily  to  answer ;  but 
it  was  put  aside  without  hesitation. 

"  The  prejudices,"  he  tells  his  correspondent,  "  which 
are  entertained  by  many  of  the  Virginians  against  the 
services  of  the  Church  and  the  appropriate  costume  of  the 
clergy,  afford  matter  of  considerable  surprise  to  a  person 
bred  in  this  part  of  the  union.  .  .  .  Educated  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  I  have  always  been  taught  to 
entertain  the  most  profound  respect  for   all  her  services. 


EPISCOPATE    OF    MOOUE.  211 

....  Let  the  ministers  of  the  Church  tread  in  the  steps 
of  tlieir  divine  Master  ;  let  them  visit  tlic  siok  and  bind  up 
the  broken-hearted ;  let  the  poor  of  Christ's  flock  be  the 
objects  of  their  care ;  and  I  will  venture  to  predict  that 
the  mountains  of  opposition  will,  in  a  little  time,  become 
plain ;  the  Prayer-book  will  be  venerated,  our  ceremonies 
approved,  the  cause  of  the  Church  will  be  promoted,  and 
penitent  sinners  v/ill  seek  for  an  asylnm  in  our  bosom." 

To  these  principles  he  adhered  throughout  the  corres- 
pondence, steadily  maintaining,  at  the  same  time,  his  first 
position,  that  he  would  not  come  "on  trial;"  but  if  elected 
rector  of  Richmond,  he  would  then,  with  the  approbation 
of  the  Bishop  of  New- York,  accept  the  oflered  charge. 

An  application  to  Bishop  Ilobart  as  to  the  character  of 
Moore  drew  forth  the  assurance,  that  from  "  the  confidence 
felt  in  his  fidelity  to  his  principles,  and  in  his  prudent  and 
zealous  efifjrts  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  Church,  he 
woi;ld  remove  to  Virginia  with  the  regret  of  him  whose 
diocese  he  quitted,  and  with  the  good  wishes  and  prayers 
of  his  brethren  generally." 

The  Virginians  at  length  assented  to  his  terms  ;  and 
his  bishop  judging  that  he  ought  not  to  refuse  what  was 
pressed  on  him  with  such  urgency,  he  was  chosen  rector 
of  the  Monumental  Church  in  Richmond  ;  and  (which  had 
never  befallen  a  clergyman  residing  in  another  diocese) 
was,  directly  after,  elected  by  convention,  to  the  vacant 
see. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1814,  he  was  consecrated  to  the 
office  of  a  bishop  in  St.  James's  Church,  Philadelphia. 
Bishop  Hobart,  in  the  consecration-sermon,  ventured  to 
predict  that  "  the  night  of  adversity  had  passed,  and  that 
a  long  and  splendid  day  was  now  dawning  on  the  Church 
in  Virginia."  And  a  little  further  on  he  adds,  addressing 
publicly  the  newly  elected  bishop,  "  How  fervent  will  be 
our  thanks  to  God,  who  hath  made  you  the  instrument  of 
this  great  good  !" 

Much  was  expected  from  his  labors  ;  and  the  expecta- 
tion was  not  disappointed.  The  bishop  set  to  work  at  once 
in  the  visitation  of  his  diocese  ;  and  wherever  he  went,  his 
fervent  spirit  awoke  the    slumbering  energies  of  those  to 


212  .  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

whom  he  came.  He  returned  to  report  to  the  convention 
of  1815  the  rising  promise  of  the  Church.  Some  of  its 
first-fruits  might  be  seen  in  the  increased  attendance  at  this 
synod  of  the  diocese,  at  which  the  number  present  exactly 
doubled  that  of  the  preceding  year.  He  encouraged  them 
to  seek  and  look  for  great  results  :  he  told  them  of  the 
earnest  desire  which  he  had  found  in  many  districts  to  re- 
pair the  waste  places  of  their  fathers'  Church  :  of  parishes 
which  had  seemed  wholly  extinct  suddenly  aroused  to  life 
and  vigor  ;  of  others  where  the  whole  congregation  had 
burst  into  tears  as  he  spoke  to  them  of  the  ancient  glory 
and  present  desolation  of  their  Church. 

The  bishop  did  not  raise  his  voice  in  vain.  The  laity 
were  manifestly  roused.  From  parish  after  parish  he  re- 
ceived earnest  applications  for  a  resident  minister.  In  the 
succeeding  year  ten  new  churches  were  reported  as  in  pro- 
gress of  erection,  and  eight  formerly  dismantled  as  now  un- 
der repair.  Hisownlabors  were  unabated.  He  traversed  the 
whole  diocese  repeatedly  ;  crossing  the  mountains  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  and  even  advancing  to  aid  the  destitute  state 
of  North  Carolina.  His  tone  of  preaching  was  earnest,  af- 
fectionate, and  simple.  It  raised  the  Cross  of  Christ  and 
His  salvation  before  the  eyes  of  all  ;  and  God  gave  him 
the  hearts  of  men.  "His  zeal  was  contagious  ;  and  zealous 
pastors  of  the  flock  quickly  gathered  round  him. 

The  younger  clergy  undertook  the  work  of  missionaries 
in  the  widely  scattered  field,  and  collected  new  congrega- 
tions throughout  all  the  province,  whilst  he  had  the  joy  of 
sending  many  fresh  laborers  into  his  Master's  vineyard. 
Many  were  the  dry  and  withered  hearts  which  were  thus 
awoke  to  Christian  life  and  gladness.  This  was  the  es- 
pecial work  of  Bishop  Moore  ;  and  a  blessed  work  it  was. 
But  there  still  was  little  done  to  impress  on  their  disjointed 
body  the  sense  of  its  unity,  to  gather  up  its  scattered  parts 
into  a  living  and  self-conscious  Mdiole.  Here  and  there, 
indeed,  there  were  signs  of  returning  life.  There  were  faint 
teachings  forth  after  discipline  and  order  ;  some  irregulari- 
ties were  laid  aside.  A  few  of  the  clergy,  in  the  vain  expec- 
tation of  removing  prejudice,  had  begun  to  substitute  in  part. 
Unauthorised    devotions    for  the    service  of   the    liturgy. 


EPISCOPATE    OF    MOOEE.  213 

Against  this  the  bishop  raised  his  voice  in  timely  warning, 
and  led  his  convention  strongly  to  condemn  the  practice.* 
Other  tokens  of  improvement  may  be  found.  In  the  year 
1815,  the  oflensive  canon  which  declared  a  bishop  amenable 
to  his  convention  had  been  rescinded  :  while  new  rules  com- 
mitted the  trial  of  a  bishop  to  his  brethren  in  the  sacred  col- 
lege, and  specially  provided,  that  "  none  but  a  bishop  shall 
prononce  sentence  of  deposition  or  degradation  from  the  mm- 
istry  on  any  bishop,  presbyter,  or  deacon."! 

The  time  had  been  when,  from  a  misplaced  jealousy, 
Virginia  had  declared  that  every  bishop  should  continue  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  a  parish  priest ;  but  now,  not  only 
was  this  rule  withdrawn,  but  it  was  proposed  to  found  a 
fund  for  the  episcopate,  that  no  bishop  might  be  kept  by  min- 
isterial duties  from  his  higher  charge. 

Another  mark  of  life  may  be  discovered  in  the  new  pro- 
vision made  for  the  education  of  the  clergy.  Two  plans 
promoted  this  important  end  ;  one,  the  fbmidation  of  a 
theological  seminary,  which  has  proved  of  the  greatest  va- 
lue both  in  supplying  candidates  lor  the  ministry,  and  also 
in  raising  the  tone  of  clerical  character  ;  the  other,  the 
formation  of  a  fund  (in  1818)  for  the  education  of  young 
men  of  piety,  who  were  desirous  of  entering  into  holy  or- 
ders. Such  an  institution  was  greatly  needed  in  America, 
where  there  are  few  endowments  left  by  the  piety  of  ear- 
lier days.  No  discredit  is  attached  to  the  student  who  is 
thus  supported  ;  though  he  who  is  maintained  by  living 
benefactors  cannot  know  the  independence  of  the  scholar 
of  an  English  University.  Yet  this  institution  has  proved 
most  important  ;  it  has  opened  a  way  to  the  ministry  to 
those  whose  hearts  longsd  ibr  its  sacred  work,  but  whose 
narrow  means  would  have  made  due  preparation  for  its 
duties  unattainable  by  them. J  Nearly  one-tenth  of  the 
clergy  had,  in  1836,  in  whole  or  in  part,  been  assisted  by 
this  society  ;  one-sixth  of  the  present  clergy  of  Ohio,  one- 
eighth  of  those  of  Pennsylvania,  one-fifth  of  those  of  Mary- 
land, and  a  large    proportion  of  those   in  Virginia,  had   de- 

*  Journals  of  Vuginia  Convention. 

f  Acts  of  Convention  in  A^irginia,  1815. 

^  Dr.  Hawks  (1836),  note  to  Memorials,  Virginia,  p.  261. 


214  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

rived  aid  from  its  funds,  while  it  was  still  aflbrding  assis- 
tance to  about  one-seventh  of  all  the  students  in  the  several 
theological  schools  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States. 
Many  of  the  leading  clergy  ui  the  west  have  owed  their 
early  training  to  this  source. 

All  these  were  movements  In  the  right  direction.  But 
much  yet  remained  to  be  corrected.  There  still  appear  on 
the  journals  of  convention  notices  which  startle  anEngUsh 
eye.  Such  are,  the  "grateful  acceptance  of  Presbyterian  and 
Baptist  Churches  for  divine  service  during  the  session  ;* 
the  record  of  "  churches  nearly  completed,  but  not  exclu- 
sively episcopal  ;"t  and  the  return  of  "  forty  com- 
municants, only  fifteen  of  whom  may  be  considered  mem- 
bers of  the  episcopal  Church,"  whilst  the  attendance  of 
members  of  "other  denominations"  is  spoken  of  as  "  gladly 
witnessed  and  aftectionately  encoui'aged.":!: 

But  perhaps  the  least  favorable  feature  of  the  whole  is 
the  result  of  various  contributions  attempted  at  this  time 
for  the  promotion  of  the  common  purposes  of  Churchmen. 
It  is  not  that  they  were  poor  ;  for  never  was  the  Church 
of  Christ  so  full  of  strength  as  when  its  poverty  was  deep- 
est ;  never  was  it  so  truly  rich  as  before  it  had  gathered  in 
the  treasures  of  the  earth.  Such  entries,  therefore,  as  an 
extra  vote  of  a  few  dollars  for  the  unusual  charge  of  the 
carriage-hire  for  a  part  of  their  bishop's  visitation  might 
bespeak  times  of  primitive  simplicity. s^  But  it  is  painful 
to  know,  that  these  things  marked  the  Church's  poverty 
when  Churchmen  were  rich.  This  clearly  bespoke  some 
great  want  in  their  system. 

It  is  painful  to  find  the  aged  Bishop  Moore  "  thanking 
his  laity  for  the  patronage  extended  by  them  to  his  clergy 
and  himself ;"  II  and  the  more  so  when  Ave  see  the  utter 
failure  of  all  eliorts  to  raise  funds  for  the  support  of  the 
episcopate.  Year  by  year  the  subject  was  renewed,  and 
always  with  the  same   result.     In  A'ain  did  conventions 

*  Journal  of  1821.  f  lb.,  1826.         t  lb.,  1827. 

§  Of  a  like  character  is  the  notice  of  a  horse,  worth  a  hundred 
dollars,  being  left  on  hand  by  a  missionary,  -who,  after  it  had  been 
purchased  for  him,  declined  that  sphere  of  labor. 

11  Journal  of  18.32. 


POVERTY    OF    THE    CHURCH.  215 

dwell  upon  the  need  of  the  bishop's  "visiting  every  part 
of  the  diocese,  encouraging  the  desponding,  rousing  the 
thoughtless,  giving  direction  to  the  zeal  and  energy  of  the 
pious,  and  impressing  upon  the  whole  a  salutary  impulse  ;" 
in  vain  they  urged  that  "  words  alone  were  cheap,  and  in- 
sufficient to  make  their  cause  flourish  ;"  in  vain  did  the 
aged  bishop  himself  press  on  them,  time  after  time,  that  he 
thought  this  "  a  matter  of  leading  importance  ;"  that  the 
"  wants  of  his  own  parish  made  his  visitations  in  a  dio- 
cese of  70,000  square  miles  in  extent,  hurried  and  ineflec- 
tual  ;"  in  vain  did  he,  when  his  age  made  it  impossible 
that  he  should  reap  any  personal  advantage  from  it,  sup- 
plicate them  earnestly  to  make  provision  for  his  successor, 
— still  the  proposed  fund  made  no  perceptible  advance 
and  scarcely  could  a  few  dollars  be  annually  raised  to  sup- 
ply him  with  assistance  when  he  was  well  nigh  worn  out 
in  their  service. 

The  same  evil  may  be  traced  as  pressing  with  its  heavy 
weight  on  the  inferior  clergy.  The  bishop  traces*  to  their 
"  inadequate  support,  their  frequent  removal  from  one 
parish  to  another  ;  removals  often  attended  with  results 
injurious  to  the  clergy,  and  always  to  the  congregations 
left  in  a  destitute  state."  He  speaks  "  of  the  want  of  sup- 
port producing  uneasiness  in  their  minds  and  paralysing 
their  efforts,"  and  of  "  extreme  penury  borne  with  silent 
suffering  by  the  pious,  excellent,  and  well  educated  cler- 
gyman." 

These  are  painful  features.  Some  of  them  are  evils 
inherent  in  the  voluntary  system  ;  some  of  them  were  the 
remains  of  the  torpid  numbness  which  had  long  entranced 
religion.  But  from  these  we  turn  gladly  to  the  brighter 
prospect.  There  was  a  gi-eat  rekindling  of  personal  devo- 
tion. An  ardent  zeal  largely  pervaded  the  younger  clergy  ; 
poor  as  was  their  earthly  recompense,  their  ranks  were 
now  recruited  from  the  best  blood  of  Virginia,  the  most  aris- 
tocratic district  of  the  Union.  Though  still  far  too  few  for 
the  population,  their  number  was  greatly  on  the  increase. 
The  seven  who  met  in  convention  at  the  election  of  Bishop 
Moore  had  multiplied  to  thirty-five. 
'  Journal  of  1835. 


216  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

This  was,  in  a  great  measure,  his  work.  For  fourteen 
years  Bishop  Moore  continued,  without  interruption,  his 
successful  labors  ;  and  then  feeling  the  infirmities  of  age 
heginnuig  to  abate  his  vigor,  he  applied  in  1828,  to  his 
convention,  begging  them  to  nominate  a  clergyman  for 
consecration  as  his  suffragan.  la  the  convention  of  the 
following  year  his  wish  was  gratified  by  the  election  of 
the  Rev.  Wm.  Meade  to  fill  the  ofHce.  It  was,  however, 
coo^red  "wdth  one  unv/ise  condition.     Dr.  Meade  was  elected 

or? 

suffragan  only  for  the  life  of  Bishop  Moore ;  and  on  his 
death  a  new  election  was  to  nominate  his  absolute  suc- 
cessor. Against  this  the  house  of  bishops  instantly  pro- 
tested ;  and  as  Virginia  jealously  maititained  her  own 
arrangement,  a  dispute,  and  probably  a  breach,  appeared 
to  be  at  hand  ;  but  it  was  happily  avoided  by  the  conse- 
cration of  the  suffragan  elect,  while  the  danger  of  the  pre- 
cedent Avas  turned  aside  by  the  enactment  of  a  general 
canon,  which  defined  the  office,  and  secured  in  every  in- 
stance the  succession  of  assistant -bishops.  Virginia  showed 
her  sense  of  the  judicious  kindness  of  this  treatment,  by 
removhig,  in  1829,  of  her  own  act,  the  restriction  she  had 
jilaced  on  Dr.  Meade's  succession.  In  him  Bishop  Moore 
found  a  meet  assistant  and  a  worthy  successor. 

The  two  worked  happily  together  ;  and,  till  the  aged 
principal  was  gathered  to  his  rest,  he  watched  with  full 
rejoicing  over  the  prosperous  labors  of  his  younger  coadju- 
tor. "  To  the  neighborhoods  and  distant  congregations  I 
once  visited  with  great  delight,"  he  says,  a  little  while  be- 
fore his  end,  "  I  have  bidden,  through  the  effects  of  inffr- 
inity,  a  final  adieu  ;  and  it  is  only  on  the  return  of  our 
conventional  meetings  that  I  am  blessed  with  the  sight  of 
my  old  friends,  and  am  permitted  to  shake  by  the  hands  a 
family  of  clergymen  who  have  been  set  apart  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  Gospel  by  myself  From  the  record  of  the 
clergy  of  the  diocese,  I  find  that,  out  of  sixty-six,  forty-four 
have  received  the  imposition  of  my  own  hands,  and  been 
clothed  with  ministerial  authority  by  myself  Be  deter- 
mined," continues  the  aged  bishop,  "I  beseech  you,  to  make 
full  proof  of  your  ministry.  Preach  Jesus  Christ  and  Him 
crucified.     In  all  your  trials,  my  beloved  sons,  may  the 


ELECTION    OF    BISHOP    HOBART.  217 

Almighty  be  your  place  of  refuge  ;  and  underneath  you 
may  He  place  the  everlasting  arms  of  his  love."*  With 
his  "  latest  voice,"  it  was,  he  declared,  his  own  hope  that 
he  should  "  proclaim  the  riches  of  redeeming  grace,"  and 
assert,  in  his  "  last  moments,"  that  "  God  is  love."t 

To  keep  unbroken  the  thread  of  Virginian  history,  we 
have  followed  out  the  life  of  Bishop  Moore,  and  advanced 
far  beyond  the  dates  to  which  we  must  now  return. 

The  blessing  which  Virginia  thus  received  in  1814, 
had  been  given  some  years  sooner,  not  only  to  New- York, 
but  to  the  whole  Church  of  North  America,  in  the  Episco- 
pate of  Dr.  John  Heiiiy  Hobart.  For  ten  years  after 
Bishop  Provoost's  resignation,  New-York  remained  in  the 
care  of  the  gentle-hearted  Bishop  B.  Moore.  But,  in 
March,  1811,  an  attack  of  paralysis  brought  his  active 
labors  to  a  sudden  close.  Feeling  keenly  his  unfitness  for 
the  charge  which  rested  on  him,  he  called  at  once  a  special 
convention,  and  urged  them  to  appoint  an  assistant-bishop, 
who  should  share  or  undertake  the  anxieties  and  labors  of 
his  post.  The  convention  followed  his  advice  ;  and  pro- 
ceeding at  once  to  the  election,  nominated  John  Henry 
Hobart,  one  of  the  assistant-ministers  of  Trinity,  New- 
York. 

This  was  a  turning-point  in  the  history  of  the  Western 
Church.  Hobart  was  a  man  who  at  any  time  would  have 
left  on  his  communion  an  impress  of  his  own  character  ;  in 
the  unformed  state  of  institutions  and  opinions  in  that  land, 
it  could  not  fail  of  being  deeply  and  broadly  marked.  Iden- 
tified as  is  his  personal  history  Mith  the  great  movement 
we  have  now  to  trace,  we  shall  better  understand  his  prin- 
ciples and  influence,  if  we  first  mark  the  formation  of  his 
character,  and  the  course  of  his  life.  J 

Hobart  was  sprung  from  the  best  of  the  old  Puritan 
stock.     His  ancestor,  the   Rev.  Peter  Hobart,  the  son  of 


*  Journals  of  Virginian  Conventions. 

f  Life  of  Bishop  Moore,  p  210. 

I  The  events  of  Bisliop  Hobart's  life  are  drawn  freely  from  Dr. 
M'Vickar's   Memoir,  except  where   a   special   reference   indicates 
another  source. 
10 


218  AMERICAN    CHOTICH. 

"  parents  eminient  for  piety,"*  and  himself  "  a  painful 
servant  of  the  Lord,"  settled  at  Massachusetts  in  1635. 
He  was  "a  person  that  met  with  many  temptations  and 
afflictions,"!  and  who,  amongst  the  New-England  worthies, 
Lore  away  the  palm  for  "  well-studied  sermons."  Though 
so  devoted  to  his  views  of  truth  that  he  quitted  a  beloved 
home  to  avoid  what  he  esteemed  the  "  blackening  cloud  of 
prelatical  impositions,"  he  \va?  a  man  of  a  Catholic  spirit; 
with  a  "  heart  knit  in  a  most  sincere  and  hearty  love  to- 
wards pious  men,  though  they  were  not  in  all  things  of  his 
own  persuasion.  He  v»^ould  admire  the  grace  of  God  in 
good  men,  though  they  were  of  sentiments  contrary  vuito 
his,  and  would  say,  I  can  carry  them  in  my  bosom."  There 
were  none,  indeed,  from  whom  he  so  much  turned  away, 
as  those  amongst  his  own  people,  "  who,  under  a  pretence 
of  zeal  for  Church-discipline,  were  very  pragmatical  in 
controversies  ;  but  at  the  same  time  most  unjust  creatures, 
destitute  of  the  life  and  power  of  godliness."  These  he 
would  bridle  with  the  saying:  "  Some  men  are  all  Church 
and  no  Christ." 

Of  his  race  proceeded  a  goodly  company  of  preachers ; 
amongst  whom  the  Apostolic  Brainerd  must  be  mentioned 
as  his  daughter's  son.  From  this  Peter  Hobart,  sprung  in 
the  fourth  generation  the  future  bishop  of  New- York  :  and 
in  many  traits  of  character  the  stamp  of  the  old  pilgrim- 
father  was  repeated  in  him.  His  immediate  parents  had 
migrated  to  Philadelphia,  and  rejoined  the  ancient  Church 
of  their  old  EngUsh  forefathers.  There  his  early  youth 
was  spent  beneath  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  venerable 
Bishop  White.  It  was  a  youth  of  the  fairest  promise  ;  the 
joy  and  hope  of  his  early-widowed  luother.  At  the  close 
of  his  education  he  was  almost  drawn  into  a  life  of  busi- 
ness. But  better  things  were  in  store  for  him;  and  the 
guiding  Hand  led  him,  instead,  to  devote  his  energy  and 
powers  to  the  ministry  of  Christ's  Church.  His  prepara- 
tion for  its  duties  was  patient  and  severe.  The  head  of 
his  college  wished  him  to  begin  by  studying  a  system  of 


*  Cotton  M.ather's  Magnalia,  b.  iii.  p.  1 53. 
t  Ibid.  p.  155. 


ORDINATION    OF    BISHOP    IIOBAR.T.  219 

divinity;  but  from  this  easier  mode  of  obtaining  a  general 
dogmatic  accuracy,  tlic  healthy  instincts  of  his  soul  re- 
volted ;  and  complaining  of  the  plan  of  "  studying  tScrip- 
ture  to  support  preconceived  opinions,"  he  wisely  resolved 
"  to  take  up  systems  when  he  had  gone  through  the  study 
of  the  Bible."  After  due  preparation  he  presented  hhnself 
for  ordination  before  the  good  old  man  by  whom  he  had 
already  been  first  received  at  the  font,  and  then  confirmed 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands  ;  and  from  him  received  his 
orders  and  mission  as  a  minister  of  Christ.  Truly  humble 
was  his  estimate  of  himself :  "  I  am  far  from  thinking  that 
I  am  qualified  lor  the  ministry  either  in  mental  or  spirit- 
ual acquirements.  ...  I  am  afraid  that  my  views  are  not 
sufficiently  pure.  .  .  .  Sacred  and  awful  will  be  my  duties; 
the  grace  of  God  can  alone  enable  me  to  execute  them. 
.  .  .  Oh,  pray  Avith  me,  that  I  may  have  a  single  eye  to 
His  glory  and  the  salvation  of  immortal  souls ;  that  He 
would  subdue  within  me  every  desire  of  honor,  emolument, 
or  human  praise  ;  and  that  I  may  serve  Him  Avith  sincerity 
and  truth."*  With  such  self-suspicion  did  he  turn  away 
from  those  paths  Avhich  would  have  led  him  straight  to 
earthly  fame,  and  addict  himself  to  the  humble  Avalk  of 
the  American  ministry. 

He  was  ordained,  in  1798,  to  the  charge  of  two  small 
parishes  AA'ithin  the  diocese  of  Pennsylvania  ;  one  of  them 
amongst  the  earliest  gathered  in  that  district  by  the  mis- 
sionary labors  of  George  Keith  ;  and  still,  to  the  grief  of 
its  young  pastor,  a  "  dispersed  flock,  Avith  little  zeal,  and 
much  iuterrtiixed  Avith  other  denominations."!  Here  he 
stayed  a  year  ;  and  having  thence  removed,  first  to  New 
Brunswick,  and  then  to  Hampstead  in  Long  Island,  he 
settled,  in  the  autumn  of  18U0,  as  assistant-minister  of 
Trinity  (Jhurch,  NcAV-York,  This  Avas  a  prominent  situ- 
ation, and  one  to  which,  under  common  circumstances,  no 
deacon  of  tAvo  years  could  have  aspired  ;  since  NcAV-York 
might  be  considered  the  metropolis  of  North  America,  and 
Trinity  stood  at  the  head  of  all  its  churches.  J     Unlike  the 

«  IVrVickar's  Life,  p.  152. 

f  Letter  to  the  Rev.  E  Giant, — M'Vickai's  Life.  p.  110. 

j  Before  the  Revolution  it  stood  146  feet  in  length,  72  in  widtli, 


^20  ^  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

rest,  its  revenues  were  ample,  having  been  endowed  by 
Lord  Cornbury,  the  royal  governor,  with  a  farm,  which  is 
now  covered  by  the  increasing  town.  Its  ministers  had 
always  been  the  leading  men  of  their  body.*  Here,  then, 
Hobart  took  his  station,  and  was  soon  conspicuous  for  the 
zealous  assiduity  with  which  he  discharged  its  duties. 
Though  when  he  first  settled  in  New- York  he  "  panted  for 
the  country,"  and  thought  that  he  "  could  never  like  a 
city,"  yet  he  was  soon  fixed  in  it  for  life  ;  declining  a  call 
to  his  native  town  because  he  possessed  where  he  was 
"  every  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  whatever  means  of 
usefulness"  he  could  command. 

These  opportunities  were  manifold.  As  a  preacher  he 
rose  quickly  to  the  highest  rank  ;  in  pastoral  visits,  and 
the  distracting  detail  of  ministerial  life,  he  was  active  and 
unwearied :  and  yet  for  the  labors  of  his  study  he  saved 
many  hours  by  late  watching  and  early  apphcation,  and 
snatched  others  by  ready  diligence  from  the  intervals  of 
busy  days. 

"  His  earliest  residence  was  a  very  small  two-story 
house,  the  rear  of  which  was  rendered  airy  by  the  prox- 
imity of  the  river.  The  attic  chamber  here  formed  his 
study,  as  being  the  most  retired  and  quiet  spot  in  the 
house,  with  Avindows  looking  out  over  the  noble  expanse 
of  the  Hudson  to  the  opposite  shores  of  Jersey,  and  having 
for  the  back-ground  of  the  view  the  distant  hills  of  Spring- 
field. 

"  In  this  little  sanctum,  surrounded,  or,  to  speak  more 
justly,  walled  in,  by  piles  of  folios  and  heaps  of  pamphlets, 
through  the  zig-zag  mazes  of  which  it  was  no  easy  matter 

and  with  a  spire  of  180  feet  in  height.  In  1776,  in  common  witli 
the  city  round  it,  it  was  consumed  by  fire,  and  hiy  in  ruins  through 
the  wiir  of  the  Revolution.  A  new  church  Avas  built  in  1788,  which 
though  4"2  feet  shorter,  was  of  a  higher  character  than  its  predeces- 
sor. This,  in  its  turn,  has  given  place  to  the  present  imposing 
structure. 

*  Rev.  Charles  Inglis,  D.  D.  (afterwards  first  Bishop  of  Nova 
Scotia) was  rector  from  1777  to  1783. 

Right  Rev.  S.  Provoost 1783  to  ISDO. 

Rigiit  Rev.  13.  Moore 1800  to  181(5. 

Riglit  Rev.  J.  H.  Hobart 1811  to  1830. 


hob.uit's  public  duties.  221 

for  a  stranger  to  make  his  way,  you  might  find  the  young 
theologian  entrenched,  and  passing  every  minute  both  of  the 
day  and  night  that  could  be  snatched  from  sleep  and  hasty 
meals,  or  spared  from  the  higher  claims  of  parochial  duty. 
These  latter  interruptions  were  so  numerous,  that  by  one 
less  vigorously  resolute  in  gathering  up  the  scattered  crumbs 
of  time,  they  would  have  been  pleaded  as  a  sufficient  apol- 
ogy for  the  remission  of  all  study  beyond  necessary  prepa- 
ration for  the  pulpit."* 

But  this  was  far  from  Mr.  Hobart's  habit.  From  this 
study  proceeded  many  devotional  and  other  works,  some 
original,  and  some  remodelled  by  his  pen;  and  here  he 
devised,  and,  till  his  accession  to  the  episcopate,  conducted, 
"  The  Churchman's  Magazine,"  a  monthly  publication 
which  contributed  in  no  slight  measure  to  raise  the  princi- 
ples and  hopes  of  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  To 
these  more  private  occupations  he  added  the  discharge  of 
public  duties.  He  was  earlyf  elected  secretary  to  the  dio- 
cesan convention  of  New- York ;  and  chosen  one  of  the  de- 
puties to  represent  the  diocese  in  the  general  convention 
which  met  the  same  year.  In  each  department  he  was 
at  once  distinguished  as  a  man  of  business.  From  1801 
till  1811  he  discharged  the  duties  of  the  first,  and  was  al- 
ways re-elected  to  the  second.  He  was  also  ammally  chosen 
on  the  standing  committee  of  the  diocese. 

But  it  was  not  in  this  course  of  labor,  useful  as  it  was, 
that  his  chief  services  were  rendered.  To  understand  these 
we  must  look  more  closely  into  his  character  and  princi- 
ples, and  see  their  peculiar  action  on  the  state  of  things 
around  him.  He  came,  then,  to  New-York  when  the  uni- 
versal tone  of  thought  and  feeling  in  the  body  which  he 
joined  was  low  and  torpid.  The  impression  of  their  first 
bishop's  character  was  plainly  legible  upon  the  Churchmen 
of  New- York  :  with  indistinct  views  of  Christian  doctrine  ; 
moralists  for  the  most  part,  rather  than  believers ;  conscious 
of  being  objects  of  suspicion,  and  almost  thinking  that  sus- 
picion just, — they  never  ventured  in  defenduig  their  position 
beyond  the  cautious  tone  of  timid  apology. 

*  M'Vickar's  Life.  t  In  1801. 


AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

In  this  state  Hol)art  found  matters  ;  but  their  continu- 
ance in  this  state  he  would  not  endure.  Trained  in  a 
Presbyterian  college,  he  was  a  Churchman  on  the  fullest 
conviction  of  his  reason.  He  early  declared*  his  own  prin- 
ciples to  run  up  in  brief  into  these  two  :  "  That  we  are 
saved  from  the  guilt  and  dominion  of  sin  by  the  divine 
merits  and  grace  of  a  crucified  Redeemer ;  and  that  the 
merits  and  grace  of  this  Redeemer  are  applied  to  the  soul  of 
the  believer  by  devout  and  humble  participation  in  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  Church,  administered  by  a  priesthood  who 
derive  their  authority  by  regular  transmission  from  Christ, 
the  divine  Head  of  the  Church,  and  the  source  of  all  the 
power  in  it." 

Many  a  sleeper  must  have  been  startled  by  such  a  voice 
as  this,  whether  true  or  flilse  in  its  announcement,  from  one 
resolute,  and  thoroughly  in  earnest ;  and  Hobart  was  both. 
He  was  convinced  that  this  was  the  truth,  and  he  was  ready 
to  live  or  to  die  for  it.  All  his  ministry  spoke  this  conviction. 
In  the  pulpit  "  he  warned,  counselled,  entreated,  and  com- 
forted, with  intense  power  and  energy.  His  mamier  and 
voice  struck  you  with  the  deep  interest  which  pervaded 
his  soul  for  their  salvation.  He  appeared  ...  as  a  herald 
from  the  other  world,  standing  between  the  dead  and  the 
living  .  .  .  entreating  perishing  sinners  not  to  reject  the 
message  of  reconciliation  which  the  Son  of  the  living  God 
so  graciously  offered  for  their  acceptance. "f  "  He  never 
ceased  to  preach  '  Christ  crucified,'  the  only  Saviour  of 
sinners  ;  and  to  exhort  them,  '  even  with  tears,'  to  lay  hold 
upon  that  salvation,  by  entering  into  covenant  with  Him 
in  that  Churcli  which  He  had  purchased  with  His  blood. "$ 
And  what  he  was  in  the  pulpit  he  was  everywhere ;  by 
the  sick-bed  or  in  society,  abroad  or  at  home,  this  was  still 
his  watch-word— "  The  Gospel  in  the  Church,"  "  Evangelical 
truth  and  apostolical  order  :"  these  he  pressed  on  all  as  the 
subjects  closest  to  his  own  heart,  and  the  most  concerning 
theirs.     The  awakening  sleepers  of  his   own   communion 

*  Preface  to  a  Companion  to  the  Altar,  by  J.  H.  Hobart.  1804. 
\  Letter  to  the  Rev.  T.  Chalmers,  D.  D.,  on  the  Life  and  Charac- 
ter of  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Hobart,  by  Archdeacon  Strachan. 
X  Dr.  M'Vickar,  p.  187. 


EFFECTS    OF    IIOBARt's    EARNESTNESS.  223 

could  not  understand  him  ;  and  feeling  only  his  warmth 
reprove  their  coldness,  they  knew  not  M'hether  to  reproach 
him  as  a  "  High  Churchman  or  Methodist."  Still  he  rose 
daily  in  general  esteem.  His  sincerity  could  not  be  ques- 
tioned, and  none  could  doubt  his  kindness ;  whilst  his 
talents  for  business  were  seen  and  lelt  by  all.  Hence  his 
constant  re-election  as  secretary  to  his  own,  and  delegate 
to  the  general,  convention. 

Other  efi'ects  also  were  .soon  visible.  The  cold  timidity 
which  had  benumbed  all  men  began  to  pass  away.  He 
Avas  gathering  round  him  a  band  of  younger  men,  laity  as 
well  as  clergy,  of  a  new  temper — men  who  believed  that 
Christ  had  indeed  founded  a  spiritual  kingdom,  and  that 
they  had  functions  in  it  to  discharge,  and  powers  with 
which  to  fulfil  them.  The  fruit  of  this  was  soon  .seen  on 
all  sides  ;  in  the  increased  attendance  on  conventions  ;  the 
growing  support  of  Church  societies ;  and,  which  was  far 
better,  in  the  new  religious  earnestness  of  all.  It  is  clear 
that  he  was  raised  up  to  do  a  special  work ;  to  cousohdate 
and  bind  together  the  loose  and  crumbling  mass  ;  to  raise 
the  general  tone  ;  to  animate  their  zeal ;  to  save  them  from 
the  fatal  apathy  into  Avhich  they  were  subsiding. 

But  this  change  could  not  pass  on  his  own  communion 
and  not  be  felt  abroad.  The  Church  of  that  day  was 
utterly  depressed.  The  time,  indeed,  was  in  some  degree 
gone  by,  when  the  "  prejudices  against  the  name  and  office 
of  a  bishop  were  such  as  to  make  it  doubtful  whether  any 
person  in  that  character  would  be  tolerated  in  the  com- 
munity."* But  it  was  '•  a  time  of  loose  principles  and 
morals;"!  and  suspicion  had  given  place  only  to  contempt. 
"  He  had  been  invested,"  was  the  language  used  concern- 
ing Bishop  Seabury's  consecration,  "or  imagined  himself 
invested,  with  certain  extraordinary  powers  by  the  manual 
imposition  of  a  few  obscure  and  ignorant  priests  in  Scot- 
land."! Under  such  a  stigma  Churchman  had  been 
hitherto  contented  to  remain  ;  unresisting,  if  not  half  per- 
suaded of  its  justice.     But  this  was  now  passed  ;  and  the 

*  Bishop  White's  Dedication  of  Mem.  of  Epis.  Chur. 

f  Letter  of  Bi^^hop  J.  H.  Hobart,— M-Vickar's  Life.  p.  235. 

\  American  Unitarianism,  p.  15 :  quoted  by  Dr.  M'Vickar. 


224  '  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

altered  temper  of  the  Church  was  felt.  It  was  not  that 
Hobart  assailed  those  without ;  he  addressed  his  own  peo- 
ple ;  but  so  his  voice  passed  of  necessity  abroad,  and  stirred 
up  attacks  to  which  he  rejoined.  He  was  called  out  by 
the  times,  and  he  was  needful  for  them.  Dr.  Mason,  the 
leading  Presbyterian  of  the  day,  in  a  review  which  he  con- 
ducted, aimed  a  blow  intended  to  "  give  a  quietus  to  the 
aspiring  ambition  of  the  young  Churchman."  With  this 
formidable  opponent  Mr.  Hobart  calmly  and  gravely  joined 
issue,  in  "An  Apology  for  Apostolic  Order  and  its  Advo- 
cates," published  in  1807,  which  is  said  to  have  drawn 
from  his  keen  antagonist  himself  the  remarkable  admis- 
sion :  "  Were  I  compelled  to  entrust  the  safety  of  my  coun- 
try to  any  one  man,  that  man  should  be  John  Henry  Ho- 
bart." 

Nor  was  it  only  by  the  pen  that  he  had  to  defend  this 
cause.  His  chief  power  lay  in  action.  It  would  be  hard 
to  find  in  his  writings  any  of  the  stamp  of  genius.  They 
are  plain,  energetic,  forcible,  and  marked  throughout  by 
the  strong  common  sense  of  a  man  of  business.  In  his 
practical  power  was  his  strength  ;  action  was  natural  to 
him.  This  strength  was  first  tested  as  trustee  of  Colum- 
bia College.  Open  to  all  denominations,  this  had  received 
its  endowments  from  the  gift  of  the  Episcopalians  of  Trin- 
ity Church,  New- York.  Its  board-meetings  were  a  field 
of  battle  on  which  each  persuasion  sought  to  obtain  the 
mastery,  and  in  this  strife  the  true  interests  of  the  college 
were  neglected.  After  many  struggles,  the  Presbyterian 
Dr.  Mason  had  attained  to  almcst  undisputed  sway.  Of 
commanding  size  and  features,  bold,  eloquent,  and  bitter, 
few  men  dared  to  face  his  withering  and  scornful  sarcasm. 
But  he  now  met  one  who  feared  him  not.  Wanting  in 
the  gifts  of  person,  Hobart  had  all  the  mental  and  moral 
qualities  which  make  men  leaders  of  their  fellows.  Un- 
daunted, ready,  and  sagacious,  he  never  abandoned  a  prin- 
ciple, deserted  a  friend,  or  quailed  before  an  enemy.  "  The 
Church  needs  no  abler  representative,"  was  the  judgment 
of  a  bystander,  a  sectarian  and  a  lawyer,  who  witnessed 
these  contentions  ;  "  he  has  all  the  talents  of  a  leader  ;  he 
is  the  most  parliamentary  speaker  I  ever  met  with  ;  he  is 


CONSECRATION   or   IIOBART.  225 

equally  prompt,  loj^lcal,  and  practical.  I  never  saw  that 
man  thrown  off  his  centre."  In  these  struggles  Hobart 
gained  the  daJ^  His  position  was,  that  there  must  be  one 
distinct  line  in  the  management  of  such  a  trust ;  that  for 
this  there  must  be  an  ascertained  majority  in  favor  of  one 
party  ;  and  that  here,  the  body  which  supplied  the  funds 
was  justly  entitled  to  the  supremacy.  His  success  was 
complete  ;  and  the  undivided  energy  with  which  the  inter- 
ests of  the  college  were  promoted  when  this  majority 
was  ascertained,  justified  the  conflicts  by  which  it  was 
secured. 

One  other  quality  which  fitted  him  to  lead  was  shown 
in  these  contentions.  During  these  ten  years  of  public 
strife,  it  may  be  doubted  if  he  made  one  private  enemy. 
He  had  inherited  his  pilgrim-father's  largeness  of  affection  ; 
and  whilst  identified  with  that  which  he  esteemed  the 
cause  of  truth,  he  lived  on  terms  of  unrestrained  friendship 
Avith  those  of  other  views. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  active  course  that  Hobart 
was  elected  bishop.  Dilliculties  beset  his  consecration  ; 
for  the  American  episcopate  was  already  so  reduced  in 
number,  that  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  obtain  the  presence 
of  three  bishops.  Bishops  Seabury,  R.  Smith,  and  Bass 
had  entered  on  their  rest  ;  Bishop  Moore  was  incapacitated 
by  paralysis  ;  Bishop  Claggett  was  turned  back  by  dan- 
gerous sickness  ;  and  Bishop  Madison  was  bound  by  oath 
to  residence  within  his  college  in  Virginia.  There  remained 
only  Bishops  White,  Jarvis,  and  Provoost — himself  in  great 
infirmity,  and  having,  for  the  last  ten  years,  performed  no 
act  belonging  to  his  office.  By  these  three,  however,  after 
some  embarrassment.  Dr.  A.  V.  Griswold,  elected  bishop 
of  the  eastern  diocese  (now  formed  by  the  addition  of  Ver- 
mont and  Rhode  Island  to  Massachusetts  and  New-Hamp- 
shire), and  Dr.  J.  H.  Hobart,  were  admitted  to  the  high- 
est order  of  the  priesthood.  To  the  presiding  bishop  it  was 
an affjcting service.  Dr  Hobart,  though  not  an  untried,  was 
yet  a  young  man,*  and  to  the  spiritual  father  who  had 
formerly  baptised  and  confirmed  him   seemed  to  belong 

•  Aged  35. 
10* 


226  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

naturally liie  words  of  "Paul  the  aged,"*  "Thou  there- 
fore, my  son,  be  strong  in  tlie  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. "f 
"  I  shall  have  peculiar  satisfaction,"  he  declared,  "  in  the 
consecration  of  a  brother,  known  in  his  infancy,  in  his  boy- 
hood, in  his  youth,  and  in  his  past  labors  in  the  ministry, 
....  and  look  with  the  most  sanguine  prospects  to  the 
issue."  The  old  man  dwelt  witli  pleasure  on  the  recollec- 
tion of  counsels  he  had  given  formerly  to  one  who,  for  the 
future,  was  to  be  a  colleague,  and  "  who  may,"  he  added, 
"in  the  common  course  of  affairs,  be  expected  to  survive 
....  when  he  who  gave  those  counsels  shall  be  no  more," 
In  this  only  was  his  augury  untrue.  The  younger  minis- 
try was  first  accomplished  ;  the  younger  man  was  gathered 
soonest  to  his  rest ;  and  the  aged  saint  survived  to  weep 
nineteen  years  later  over  his  grave. 

No  second  candidate  divided  wilh  Hobart  the  votes  of 
the  convention,  and  he  opened  his  episcopate  with  general 
aeclammations.  But  amidst  these  one  voice  of  unworthy 
jealousy  was  loudly  uttered.  Another  presbyter,  a  fellow- 
assistant  at  Trinity  Church,  New- York,  published  his  "so- 
lemn remonstrance"  against  this  election.  The  ineffectual 
weapon  recoiled  at  last,  and  with  destructive  force,  against 
himself  But  for  the  present  the  remonstrance  awoke  a 
a  tumult  of  bitterness  and  strife.  One  of  its  effects  was  to 
bring  Bishop  Provoost  in  a  most  unseemly  manner  again 
before  the  Church.  No  doubt  he  recognised  in  Hobart 
some  of  those  features  which  had  formerly  been  so  distaste- 
ful 1o  him  in  the  first  bishop  of  Connecticut  ;  and  under 
these  impressions  he  became,  in  the  weakness  of  old  age, 
the  tool  of  othei's  to  wound  the  assistant-bishop  on  whose 
head  his  own  hand  had  just  been  laid.  His  first  step  was 
to  claim  a  right  to  that  jurisdiction  which  he  had  of  old  re- 
signed. This  was  met  at  once  by  the  diocesan  convention. 
Distinguishing  with  careful  accuracy  between  the  indelible 
office  of  a  bishop,  which  it  had  not  given  and  could  not  re- 
move, and  that  local  jurisdiction  to  which  he  had  been 
elected  by  itself,  it  resolved  that  "  the  Right  Rev.  Samuel 
Provoost,  immediately  after  the  acceptance  of  his  resigna- 

*  Philemon  9.  f  2  Tim.  ii.  1. 


BISHOP   white's    character    OF   IIOBART.  227 

tion  by  the  convention  of  the  Church  in  this  state,  ceased 
to  be  the  diocesan  bishop  thereof,  and  could  no  longer 
rightfully  exercise  the  functions  or  jurisdiction  appertain- 
ing to  that  ollice  ;  that  having  ceased  to  be  the  diocesan  bi- 
shop as  aforesaid,  he  could  neither  resume  nor  be  restored 
to  that  character  by  any  act  of  his  own,  or  of  the  general 
convention,  or  either  of  its  houses,  without  the  consent  and 
participation  of  the  said  state  convention,  which  consent 
and  participation  the  said  Bishop  Provoost  has  not  obtain- 
ed ;  and  that  his  claim  to  such  a  character  is  therefore 
unfounded." 

Upon  the  passing  of  this  resolution,  Bishop  Provoost  no 
longer  urged  his  ill-advised  claim.  It  was  clear  that  he  was 
altogether  wrong.  His  spiritual  order  the  convention  could 
not  touch  ;  but  the  jurisdiction  which  he  exercised  in  virtue 
of  their  choice,  which  he  had  resigned,  and  which  had  passed 
to  Bishop  Moore  on  his  election  by  convention,  it  was  as 
impossible  for  Dr.  Provoost  to  resume  at  will. 

It  is  pleasant  to  contrast  with  this  unhappy  conduct 
the  course  of  the  aged  Bishop  White.  Of  a  wholly  difler- 
ent  school,  he  did  full  justice  to  the  solid  excellence  of 
Hobart  ;  no  creeping  jealousy  alloyed  his  praises.  "  Ne- 
ver," he  afterwards  declared,  had  he  "  known  any  one  on 
whose  integrity  and  conscientiousness  of  conduct  he  had 
more  full  reliance  ;"  and  in  the  prospect  of  his  own  ap- 
proaching end,  he  had  thought,  he  said,  with  "  gratifica- 
tion, that  he  should  leave  behind  him  one  whose  past  zeal 
and  labors  were  a  pledge  that  he  would  not  cease  to  be 
efficient  in  extending  the  Church  and  preserving  her  integ- 
rity." 


CHAPTER  X. 

FROM  1810  TO  1820. 

Episcopate  of  Bishop  Hohart — Two  first  years  of  opposition — Rise 
of  Church  societies — Effect  upon  the  laity — New  tone  of  feeling 
and  action — Bishop  Hobart  with  his  clergy — His  language  as  to 
the  Church  of  Rome — His  visitations — General  spread  of  the 
Church — Increase  of  bishoprics — State  of  "  the  West" — Need  of 
missionary  pastors — Pioneers  of  the  Church — Lay  readers — Sam- 
uel Gunu — His  early  years — Labors — Removal  to  Ohio — Conse- 
cration of  Bishop  Chase — His  life — Founds  Kenyon  college — Its 
building — Students — Their  missionary  excursions — How  received 
— Funds  for  domestic  purposes — Jackson  Kemper — Bishop  Ho- 
bart's  canon — His  labors  amongst  the  Indians — Oneida  reserves 
— Eleazar  Williams — His  history — The  bishop's  visit. 

The  episcopate  of  Dr.  Hobart  fulfilled  the  promise  of  his 
earlier  years.  It  was  that  of  one  who  had  "  purchased  to 
himself  a  good  degree"  in  the  lower  functions  of  the  minis- 
try, and  now  entered  with  "  boldness"  and  faith  on  the 
discharge  of  the  highest. 

Yet  his  two  first  years  were  years  of  trial  and  discour- 
agement. The  opposition  which  had  followed  his  election 
had  raised  the  troubled  waters  of  angry  contention,  and 
they  did  not  suddenly  subside.  It  may  be  that  his  ardent 
spirit  rendered  such  a  check  needful  for  one  who  was  thus 
early  raised  to  the  seat  of  government  and  power.  Assur- 
edly it  was  borne  meekly,  and  yielded  for  himself  and  many 
more  the  good  fruits  of  a  disciplined  patience.  At  the  close 
of  these  two  years  he  had  lived  down  this  opposition,  and 
was  able  to  carry  out  his  plans  for  the  improvement  of  his 
diocese.  These  were  all  aimed  in  one  direction.  He  de- 
sired to  "  stir  up  the  gift  of  God"  which  he  firmly  believed 
was  "  in  him  ;"  and  to  awaken  all  around  to  greater  zeal 
and  earnestness  within  the  Church.  Surrounded  as  it  was 
with  sects,  vnth  none  of  those  civil  distinctions  or  heredi- 


RISE    OF    CHURCH    SOCIETIES.  229 

tary  prepossessions  which,  in  the  mother  country,  tend  to 
define  its  separate  form,  all  depended  in  America  on  the 
vigor  of  its  inner  life  sufficing  for  its  own  development. 
This  induced  him,  from  the  first,  to  direct  the  zeal  of  its 
members  to  the  formation,  within  their  own  body,  of  the 
necessary  instruments  for  home-education,  for  Christrau 
charity,  and  for  missionary  enterprise.  The  Church,  he 
maintained,  ought  to  supply  to  Churchmen  the  organs  for 
these  several  works  of  love  ;  and  he  never  shrunk  from  the 
responsibility  or  labor  involved  in  presiding  over  them.  His 
views  on  these  points  met  at  first  with  some  opposition  ; 
but  justice  has  since  been  generally  done  to  their  far-sighted 
wisdom.  "  "VVe  award,"*  says  the  leading  paper  of  the  Me- 
thodists in  1835,  "  to  the  Episcopalians  the  priority  in  the 
defence  of  church  or  denominational,  in  opposition  to  na- 
tional religious  societies.  "VYe  are  informed  that  Bishop 
Hobart  was  the  first  to  make  a  stand.  Had  others  defended 
this  plan  with  constancy,  firmness  and  discretion,  the  gene- 
ral Church  of  God  in  this  country  would  have  been  in  a 
much  better  state." 

The  effect  of  the  system  in  New- York  was  evident.  It 
gathered  round  the  Bishop  a  band  of  laymen  who  felt  and 
acted  on  the  truth  that  they  were  indeed  one  body,  of  a 
fixed  form,  and  with  spiritual  powers  which  the  Lord 
Himself  had  marked  out  and  imparted.  Nowhere  was 
such  a  principle  more  requisite  than  in  the  disunited  society 
of  democratical  America  ;  and  here  it  produced  its  natural 
results.  The  more  vigorous  life  which  was  awakening 
was  visible  on  all  sides  ;  one  measure  of  its  increase  is  in- 
cidentally supplied  bv  the  wider  circulation  of  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  Though  in  1815  the  tide  had  already 
turned,  oaly  500  copies  were  issued  from  the  depository, 
whilst  within  two  years  the  sale  had  risen  to  2239. t 

■  But  with  this  attention  to  the  organic  frame-work  of 
the  body  over  which  it  was  his  province  to  preside,  the 
bishop  joined  a  watchful  care  over  the  secret  fountains  of 
its  hidden  life.  On  laity  and  clergy  he  pressed,  by  precept 
and  example,  the  supreme  importance  of  a  truly  spiritual 

*  Quoted  in  Dr.  M'Vickar's  Life,  p.  383. 
t  Dr.  M'Vickar's  Life,  p.  387. 


SiSO  AMERICAN   CHXJRCH, 

religion.  In  answering  tlie  solicitations  of  afTection,  which 
would  have  persuaded  him  to  lessen  his  own  lahors,  he 
revealed  the  spring  of  all  his  conduct.  "  How,"  said  he, 
"can  I  do  too  much  for  that  compassionate  Saviour  who 
has  done  so  much  for  me."*  He  reminded  his  conventionf 
that  but  little  satisfaction  could  be  gathered  "  from  the  in- 
creasing attachment  to  their  distinctive  principles  and 
veneration  for  their  institutions,"  unless  with  it  were  seen 
"an  increase  of  evangelical  piety."  His  clergy  he  contin- 
ually urged  "  to  exert  with  prudence,  fidelity,  and  zeal,  all 
their  talents  and  attainments  in  the  service  of  their  divine 
Lord  and  of  the  Church  which  He  purchased  with  His 
blood,"  reminding  them  that  "the  spirit  of  the  ministry 
must  still  be  formed  in  retirement,  by  study,  meditation, 
and  prayer. "-t  He  cautioned  them  as  plainly  against  any 
inclination  towards  "the  gorgeous  and  unhallowed  structure 
of  the  papal  hierarchy,"  on  the  one  side,  as  against  "  the 
tumults  of  schism  on  the  other."  He  had  no  shrinking 
from  the  title  Protestant,  and  was  wholly  free  from  the 
temper  which  conl'ounds  the  maintenance  of  Church-prin- 
ciples with  a  secret  inclination  towards  the  Romish  com- 
munion. "God  forbid,"  was  his  own  declaration, §"  that 
I  should  say  aught  against  the  right  of  private  judgment 
in  matters  of  religion  when  properly  exercised.  The  doc- 
trine that  every  man,  being  individually  responsible  to  his 
Maker,  and  Judge,  must,  in  all  those  concerns  that  affect 
his  spiritual  and  eternal  welfare,  act  according  to  the  dictates 
of  his  conscience,  is  that  cardinal  principle  of  the  Protestant 
faith  which  should  be  most  soundly  guarded."  And  these 
words  came  to  them  from  lips  they  learned  to  love.  He  was 
their  friend  and  their  counsellor.  To  him  they  turned  nat- 
urally in  sorrow,  need  or  difficulty :  and  they  found  him 
always  ready  to  bear  gladly  the  burden  which  "  came  upon 
him  daily,  the  care  of  all  the  churches." 

Thus  all  his  visitations  told  upon  them  :  and  with  the 
trees  which  he  loved  to  plant  around  the  scattered  par- 
sonage, and  which  ever  afterwards  spoke  to  them  of  their 

*  Dr.  M'Vickar's  Life,  p.  568. 

t  Address  to  the  Convention,  1814. 

X  Dr.  M'Vickar'.s  Life,  p.  339.  §  Berrian's  Memoir,  p.  226. 


GENERAL    PnOGUESS.  231 

bishop's  presence  and  care  even  for  these  enter  things, 
there  were  sowed  in  many  hearts  the  seeds  of"  better  and 
more  enduring  produce.  Few  came  thus  into  his  company 
without  receiving  some  impression  ;  all  felt  his  influence  ; 
— from  the  acute  lawyer  of  the  city  who  watched  his 
public  conduct,  to  the  Presbyterian  farmer  of  the  back- 
woods, who  declared,*  "  I  at  first  felt  a  little  afraid  of  your 
bishop  that  you  brought  to  my  house  ;  but  I  soon  got  over 
it,  for  he  is  the  cleverest  man  I  ever  saw  in  my  lite.  He 
is  no  more  of  a  gentleman  than  I  am." 

Under  the  rule  of  such  a  man  we  should  expect  to 
meet  with  evident  improvement  :  nor  will  such  hopes  be 
disappointed.  The  internal  progress  of  the  diocese  may 
be  marked  in  the  returns  of  1835,  five  years  after  Bishop 
Hobart's  death.  In  that  year  there  were  reported  262G 
baptisms,  10,630  communicants,  198  clergymen,  215 
parishes,  and  8  new  churches  consecrated.  The  total 
amount  of  funds  raised  for  religious  objects,  besides  the 
salaries  of  clergymen,  amounted  to  13,500/.  The  report 
of  two  years  later  shows  a  still  continuing  progress.  The 
clergy  then  were  239,  and  55  were  candidates  for  holy 
orders;  the  parish  churches  had  increased  to  232,  and  16 
new  consecrations  had  marked  the  past  year  ;  whilst  the 
fund  for  the  support  of  the  Episcopate  had  risen  to  22,890/., 
a  sum  which  made  it  thenceforth  possible  to  set  the  bishop 
free  from  any  direct  pastoral  charge. t 

By  a  blessed  law  of  the  new  kingdom,  this  internal 
vigor  could  not  wholly  spend  itself  within  ;  it  must  bear 
some  good  fruit  on  every  side  ;  the  welling  fountain  must 
water  other  lands  ;  and  the  history  of  the  whole  Church 
bears  many  marks  of  the  change  we  have  been  tracing. 
It  may  be  discerned  in  all  directions.  There  was  a  con- 
tinual increase  in  the  numbers  of  the  Episcopate:  in  1812 
Dr.  Dehon,  one  of  the  purest  and  gentlest  spirits  ever  sepa- 
rated to  that  work,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  South  Caro- 
lina :  in  1814,  as  we  have  seen,  after  a  vacancy  of  two 
years,  Virginia  found  in  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Richard 
Moore  the  first  means  of  her  spiritual  revival,  and  the  dis- 

*  Dr.  M'Vickar's  Life,  p.  438.        f  Caswall's  America,  p.  151, 


232  AMERICAN   CHURCtt. 

puted  see  of  Maryland  was  filled  by  Dr.  Kemp ;  wllllst  irl 
that  year  the  extension  of  the  Episcopate  into  the  wide 
regions  of  the  west  first  engaged  the  care  of  the  general 
convention.  But  thi'ee  years  before,  there  had  been,  be- 
sides Bishop  Provoost  retired,  and  Bishop  Moore  disabled 
from  infirmity,  only  six  acting  bishops  for  the  sees  of  Con- 
necticut, Pennsylvania,  New- York,  Virginia,  Maryland, 
and  the  Eastern  diocese.  Within  these  sees  there  were,  in 
Connecticut  thirty  clergy,  twenty  in  Pennsylvania,  in 
New-York  forty-four,  in  Vii'ginia  fifty,  five  in  Maryland, 
and  in  the  Eastern  diocese*  fifteen :  in  all,  one  hundred 
and  ninety-four. t  But  since  this  time  a  change  had  passed 
over  the  body  :  its  members  had  begun  to  understand  their 
own  position  ;  higher  and  more  intelligible  ground  was  oc- 
cupied ;  their  claim  to  the  true  succession  frem  the  Apos- 
tles of  the  Lord,  and  the  need  of  such  a  Avarrant  for  His 
ministers,  had  been  heard,  discussed,  and  remained  unre- 
futed  in  that  land  of  sects ;  the  hearts  of  many  turned  to- 
wards it  from  the  confusion  and  weariness  of  endless  self- 
multiplying  division ;  its  clergy  now  numbered  two  hundred 
and  forty,  and  were  so  rapidly  increasing  that  they  were 
quadrupled  within  the  next  twenty-four  years  ;  the  vacant 
seats  of  the  bishops  were  filled  vip.  In  1815  New  Jersey 
received  in  Dr.  Croes  her  first  spiritual  head  ;  in  1818  Dr. 
N.  Bowen  succeeded  Bishop  Dehon,  who  had  been  already 
taken  to  his  rest  ;  and  in  the  following  year  Dr.  Browneli 
supplied  the  vacancy  of  Bishop  Jarvis  ;  whilst  the  first 
mitre  of  "  the  West"  was  placed  upon  the  manly  and  en- 
during brow  of  Philander  Chase. 

The  life  of  this  prelate  brings  under  our  notice  a  pecu- 
liar feature  of  the  Church  in  America.  In  the  large  towns 
and  settled  districts  of  the  north  and  east  its  growth  and 
increase  cannot  difi^er  widely  from  that  which  we  see 
amongst  ourselves, — it  is  opposed  by  the  same  diflficulties 
— it  has  to  subdue  them  with  the  same  arms.  But  in  the 
wide  wilderness  which  stretches  far  behind  the  settled  dis- 
tricts of  America,  it  pursues  its  work  of  mercy  under  new 

*  Composed  of  Massachusetts,  Mabe,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont,  and 
"New  Hampshire. 

t  Caswall's  America,  p.  186, 


THE   WESTERN  WILDERNESS,  233 

and  pecular  conditions.  These  we  must  survey  more 
closely,  or  in  this  louj^-settled  country  we  shall  never 
understand  how  little,  without  constant  domestic  missions, 
the  cause  of  Christ  can  spread  abroad  throughout  that 
land. 

At  this  time*  in  America  the  tide  of  civilized  life  had 
flowed  but  a  very  little  Avestward.  Along  the  sea-coast  and 
near  the  mouths  of  the  great  rivers  the  white  men  had 
long  been  settled,  great  cities  had  grown  up,  busy  multi- 
tudes thronged  the  streets,  every  acre  was  possessed  and 
cultivated,  and  there  was  little  left  to  show  that  two  cen- 
turies before,  large  forests,  where  the  axe  had  never  rung, 
had  darkened  all  this  coast,  amidst  the  glades  of  which 
the  cunning  Indian  hunter  might  be  seen  stealthily  pursu- 
ing his  game.  But  on  leaving  the  sea-board  the  scene 
soon  changed  ;  the  settlers  became  fewer  and  fewer  ;  after 
a  time  even  the  backwood  farmer  disappeared  ;  the  roads 
abruptly  ended  ;  the  traveller  got  amongst  clearings,  where 
the  axe  had  but  just  begun  its  work  ;  and  Avhere  the  stumps 
of  the  giants  of  the  forest  still  stood  in  their  native  soil, 
though  mutilated  by  the  strong  arm  which  had  felled  their 
glory,  or  charred  by  the  fire  which  had  been  brought  in  aid 
of  man  for  their  destruction.  Here  was  found  the  squatter 
and  his  family,  who  had  come  forth  from  civilised  society, 
taken  up  their  abode  in  this  far  wilderness,  cleared  the  tim- 
ber, acquired  the  soil  by  their  own  labor,  built  their  log 
hut,  and  now  with  the  rifle,  which  they  well  knew  how  to 
use,  provided  themselves  with  food,  and  maintained  against 
all  intruders  their  title  to  their  "  clearing."  Beyond  these 
again  lay  the  great  forest,  with  its  uniform  dark  frowning 
front,  its  carpet  of  leaves,  its  endless  shadows,  its  game, 
and  its  red  hunters. 

In  the  ranks  of  those  who  made  up  this  advanced  guard 

*  This  account  is  mainly  taken  from  the  interesting  work  of  the 
Rev.  Henry  Caswall,  M.  A.,  by  birth  an  Englishman,  and  now  a 
curate  in  the  English  diocese  of  S;ilisbury,but  lately  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Madison,  Indiana,  and  some  time  professor  in  the  theological 
seminary  of  the  diocese  of  Kentucky, — to  whose  published  volume, 
and  private  assistance,  the  author  begs,  once  for  all,  to  record  here 
his  deep  obligations. 


234      ,  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

of  civilized  society  were  persons  of  every  condition  and 
character.     Amongst  them  were  some  who  found  it  conve- 
nient to  fly  from  the  punishment  threatened  by  the  laws 
which  they  had  broken  ;  others  who  had  contracted  debts, 
from  the  liability  of  which  they  were  hopeless  of  otherwise 
escaping- ;  whilst  the  number  was  completed  by  men  of  en- 
terprising spirits  or  of  restless  tempers,  who  found  or  ex- 
pected to  find  in  the  west  an  easier  provision  for  themselves 
and  their  families  than  had  fallen  to  their  lot  amongst  the 
contentions   and   competitions  of  more  populous  districts. 
This  tide  was  ever  rising,  and  the  black  line  of  the  forest 
receded  farther  and  farther  as  it  advanced.     The  squatter 
found  himself  disturbed  by  neighbors,  his  wild  independence 
was  straitened,  and  his  rifle  yielded  less  for  his  support ;  he 
began  to  crave   after  the  forest  stillness  ;   and  having  sold 
his  clearing  to  some  farmer,  who,  having  a  little  more  capi- 
tal and  a  little  less  enterprise,  was  willing  to  enter  into  the 
fruit  of  his  labors,  he  shouldered  his   axe   anew  and  cast 
himself  upon  the  pathless  forest.     Thus  year  by  year,  and 
almost  day   by  day,  the   stream  of  population  flowed  on  ; 
the  stragglers  multiplied,  log  huts  grew  into  villages,  and  be- 
fore the  charred  stumps  were  rotted  in  the  ground,  streets 
and  towns  had  grown  up  round  them,  and  man  with  all 
the  multitude  of  his  inventions  was  there.      But  amongst 
those  many  inventions  Christianity  was  too  often  forgotten. 
The  mass  of  such  men  brought  little  of  it  with  them,  and 
that  little  was  soon  lost.    No  existing  ministry  pressed  upon 
them  the  truths  of  the  unseen  world  ;   no  village-bells  re- 
minded them  of  worship  and  of  praise  ;  no  ancient  spire 
pointed  with  its  silent  finger   towards  the  heaven   above 
them.      There  was  for  the  most  part  amongst  them  little 
sense  of  the  needs  of  a  spiritual  life  :  even  if  the  settler  were 
not  one  who   in  the  midst  of  the   means  of  jjrace   had  re-  * 
sisted  God's  goodness  and  hardened  his  own  heart,  yet  this 
careless  outward  life  pressed   always  upon  him.     It  was 
all  too  natural  that  the  making  provision  for  the  other  life 
should  be  postponed  until  a  time  of  more  leisure  or  greater 
competence.     Thus  the  last   remaining  impress  of  Chris- 
tianity was   worn  off",    and   the   children  trained  in  such 
scenes  grew  up  as  heathens,  with  no  faith  in  Christ  or  fear 


SAMUEL    GUNN.  235 

of  God — unbaptised  at  birth,  and  unnurtured  from  the 
cradle.  Or  if  there  still  lingered  on  amongst  these  wild 
men  some  resemblance  of  Chrislianity,  or  if  yearnings  after 
better  things  sprung  up  within  their  hearts,  still  the  Church 
was  not  amongst  them  to  seize  on  and  turn  to  lasting  profit 
the  precious  oppovtimity.  Sacraments  they  had  none ; 
ministers  of  God,  witnesses  for  Christ,  how  should  these  be 
found  in  these  far  wilds  ?  They  were  not  :  and  so  the  rude 
settler  must  become  his  own  priest ;  and  this,  which  \\'as 
far  the  best  state  of  things,  nourished  the  seeds  of  indepen- 
dence ;  and  the  religion  which  sprung  up  was  as  wlien 
men  cast  seeds  into  uncultivated  lands, — they  grow  up,  but 
degenerate,  and  the  ears  become  thinner,  and  the  fruit  be- 
comes scantier,  until  its  first  type  is  almost  lost,  and  it 
can  scarcely  be  discerned  from  one  of  the  wild  plants  around 
it. 

It  was  in  looking  on  these  evils,  which  were  ripening  in 
the  western  parts  of  his  own  diocese  of  New- York,  that  the 
heart  of  Bishop  Hobart  was  stirred  up,  and  he  pressed  upon 
the  Church  the  need  of  sending  forth  as  of  old  her  army  of 
missionary  teachers,  who  should  plant  in  these  young  lands, 
and  minister  amongst  these  growing  tribes,  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  and  the  sacraments  of  His  grace.  His  words  were 
heard — the  work  was  undertaken — and  it  prospered  in  their 
hands.  Various  were  the  instruments  employed,  as  God  bless- 
ed the  feeble  beginning  ;  but  the  work  was  soon  proceeding. 
The  pioneer  of  these  labors  was  often  the  humble  lay 
reader,  who  prepared  the  way  lor  the  feet  of  Christ's  am- 
bassadors. 

In  thelile  of  such  a  laborer  Ave  shall  trace  the  progress 
of  the  lertilising  stream.  Sauuiol  G  unn*  was  one  of  these. 
He  was  born  m  Connecticut  in  17G3,  and  baptised  by  one 
of  the  missionaries  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.  His  early  youth  was  uuharm- 
ed  by  the  dangers  and  temptations  of  the  war  of  indepen- 
dence, and  he  was  amongst  the  first  who  presented  them- 
selves to  receive  from  Bishop  Seabury  the  blessing  of  con- 
firniation.     His  blameless   character  and  holy  lile  recom- 

*  See  Caswall's  America  and  American  Church. 


236 


AMERICAN    CHURCH. 


mended  him  to  the  notice  of  the  good  hishop,  who  watched 
withapostoUc  zeal  over  the  risings  of  chastened  piety  within 
his  infant  diocese  ;  and  as  the  parish  in  which  he  was  set- 
tled was  without  a  clergyman,  Samuel  Gunn  was  appoint- 
ed lay  reader  to  a  small  band  of  devout  Christians  who 
met  there  to  worship  God  according  to  the  order  of  the 
Church  liturgy.  Now  and  then  a  clergyman  visited  the 
district,  and  administered  amongst  them  the  especial  rites 
of  our  religion  ;  but  for  the  most  part,  during  ten  or  twelve 
years,  they  depended  chiefly  on  Samuel  Gunn. 

At  the  end  of  this  period,  his  family  having  increased, 
and  the  soil  of  Connecticut,  naturally  somewhat  barren,' 
and  now  much  exhausted,  not  aflbrding  them  the  means 
of  hving,  he  determined  to  move  westward.  He  settled  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  state  of  New- York,  amidst  a  population 
made  up  of  moving  emigrants.  Amongst  them  he  resum- 
ed his  office  of  lay  reader,  until  he  had  gathered  together 
so  many  that  they  formed  themselves  into  a  parish,  and 
obtained  the  ministrations  of  a  settled  clergyman. 

For  twelve  years  he  was  now  stationary  ;  but  in  the 
autumn  of  1805,  finding  difficulties  gather  round  him,  he 
determined  on  a  new  emigration  ;  and  after  paying  every 
debt  he  had  contracted,  set  ofl' again  with  all  belonging  to 
him  for  the  farther  west.  As  he  journeyed,  one  °of°the 
sorrows  of  the  early  settler  fell  on  him  ;  he  lost  a  child  by 
a  sudden  and  violent  death,  and  had  himself  to  dig  its 
grave  and  leave  in  the  silence  of  the  leafy  forest  the  rnoul- 
dering  dust  which  should  one  day  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  rise  like  the  long-buried  seed  out  of  its  place 
to  light  and  life.  In  the  month  of  November  he  reached 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio  river,  then  a  wild  and  comparatively 
unvisited  stream  ;  and  embarking  on  a  sort  of  raft-boat,  he 
floated  with  his  family  and  goods  down  the  stream  until 
he  came  to  the  neighborhood  of  a  small  settlement  of  ten 
or  twelve  houses,   which  seemed  suited  to  his  purpose. 

Here  he  settled  ;  and  the  voice  of  prayer  and  praise  in 
the  language  of  the  liturgy  was  soon  afterwards  heard  on 
the  banlvs  of  the  Ohio.  For  years  his  own  family  formed 
all  his  congregation ;  but  at  length  a  band  was  gathered 
out  of  the  village  of  Portsmouth,  who  united  with  him  in 


SAMUEL    GUNN.  237 

his  holy  worship.  In  the  course  of  the  year  1819,  he 
heard  that  the  state  in  which  he  was  settled  (Ohio)  had 
been  regularly  formed  into  a  diocese,  and  that  a  bishop 
had  been  elected  and  consecrated.  The  heart  of  the  pious 
Churchman  was  filled  with  hope  and  joy  at  this  announce- 
ment ;  and  these  feelings  M'ere  soon  afterwards  increased 
by  his  learning  that  his  new  bishop  was  no  stranger  to  him, 
but  one  whom  as  a  missionary  he  had  frequently  received 
under  his  humble  roof  Avhilst  he  acted  as  lay  reader  in  the 
western  wilds  of  New- York.  As  soon  as  Gunn  knew  that 
he  was  in  a  regularly /formed  diocese,  he  desired  to  put 
himself  under  the  direction  of  its  head ;  and  he  wrote  ac- 
cordingly to  his  bisliop,  announcing  the  state  of  things  in 
his  village  of  Portsmouth,  and  pointing  out  the  blessings 
which  he  thought  would  flow  from  a  visit  on  the  part  of 
their  chief  shepherd.  For  a  time  the  bishop  could  not 
himself  act  upon  this  call ;  but  he  sent  at  once  a  clergyman 
to  refresh  AA'ith  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel  those  spirits 
which  were  fainting  in  the  desert.  Li  about  a  month  the 
bishop  himself  arrived.  The  ground  was  not  fully  preoc- 
cupied by  any  existing  sect  ;  Guim's  labors  had  removed 
some  prejudice,  and  excited  some  attention,  and  curiosity 
as  well  as  better  feelings  were  at  work  ;  so  that  when  the 
court-house  of  the  village  was  made  ready  for  the  bishop's 
use,  numbers  flocked  to  hear  him.  His  simple  earnest 
piety  deeply  impressed  the  congregation  ;  and  he  did  not 
leave  the  village  until  he  had  organised  a  parish,  of  which 
Gvum  was  elected  senior  warden,  and  to  which,  under  the 
bishop's  authority,  he  ministered  as  lay  reader  until  it  was 
possible  to  send  a  clergyman  amongst  them.  His  labors 
were  assisted  by  the  discovery  of  a  set  of  Prayer-books  in 
the  village  "store."  These,  which  had  long  slept  as  im- 
saleable  commodities,  were  now  in  such  request,  that  (mo- 
ney-payments bemg  rare  in  those  back  settlements)  as 
many  as  twenty  bushels  of  corn  were  sometimes  given  for 
a  single  copy. 

For  three  years  Gunn  kept  together  the  congregation 
by  these  simple  services,  though  they  were  years  of  trial 
and  rebuke.  Disease,  which  raged  in  the  village,  tliinned 
continually  the  little  flock;  and  when,  in  1823,  he    pro- 


238  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

cured  once  a  mouth  the  services  of  a  clergymau,  who  came 
fifty  miles  to  minister  amongst  them,  they  were  dwindled 
down  so  loAV  as  often  to  excite  the  ridicule  of  the  profane. 
But  few  as  they  were,  the  seed  of  life  was  amongst  them,  and 
it  only  needed  the  fostering  presence  of  the  Church's  ordin- 
ances to  spring  up  and  be  seen  openly.  In  1831  they  set 
apart  and  fitted  up  a  room  in  which  to  worship  God  accord- 
ing to  the  manner  of  their  fathem;  and  in  this  year  the  aged 
lay  reader  rejoiced  to  hand  over  his  work  to  an  ordained 
minister,*'  who  was  at  length  settled  amongst  them. 

But  all  the  good  man's  work  was  not  yet  done.  He 
had  to  show  that  he  could  suffer  patiently,  as  well  as  labor 
zealously.  Within  a  few  weeks  of  yielding  up  his  charge, 
a  violent  accident,  which  at  first  threatened  his  life,  de- 
prived him  of  the  sight  of  one  eye,  and  enfeebled  his  health 
ever  afterwards.  One  service  more  was  left  him  to  per- 
form. In  the  winter  following  his  accident  he  called  to- 
gether his  neighbors  and  friends,  and  earnestly  urged  them 
to  erect  a  church  in  which  they  might  together  worship 
God.  He  ended  his  address  by  saying  ;  "  You  know,  my 
friends,  that  I  am  not  rich,  and  that  twice  I  have  lost  my 
all.  Yet  Providence  has  given  me  enough,  and  my  pro- 
perty is  noAV  worth  a  little  more  than  two  thousand  dollars  ; 
of  this  I  will  give  one-third  towards  the  erection  of  the 
proposed  ediiiee,  on  condition  that  you  will  contribute  the 
remainder  of  the  necessary  amount." 

It  was  well  for  him,  as  for  David  of  old,  that  "  itAvas 
in  his  heart  to  build  a  house  for  the  Lord  his  God  ;"  but 
the  good  man  lived  not  to  worship  in  it,  or  even  to  lay  its 
corner-stone.  Before  that  time  came,  his  warfare  was 
accomplished,  and  he  was  received  by  the  Master  whom 
he  haa  so  long  and  so  faithfully  served  into  the  bright  and 
blessed  rest  of  Paradise. 

Such  are  the  labors  of  the  humbler  pioneers  of  the 
Church  in  America  ;  and  the  life  of  the  bishop  who  thus 
followed  one  of  them  into  the  wilderness  will  illustrate  that 
of  her  missionary  clergy.      Dr.  Philander  Chase,  then  just 

*  The  Rev.  H.   Caswall,  from  -whose  work  this  whole   account  is 
taken. 


EARLY  LIFE    OP   PHILANDER   CHASE.  239 

appointed  Bishop  of  Ohio,  was  born  in  December  1775,* 
on  the  high  banks  of  Connecticut  river,  a  few  miles  north 
of  Charlostown,  which  was  then  the  extreme  verge  of  the 
settled  country.  The  American  Ibunder  of  his  race,  Aquila 
Chase,  a  native  of  Cornwall  hi  England,  settled  with  his 
wile  and  family,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  at  Newbury 
in  Ma.«sachusetts.  Like  all  their  neighbors,  they  were  In- 
dependent Congregationalists,  and  like  very  many  of  them, 
they  were  truly  right-minded  godly  people.  To  their  de- 
scendants after  them  they  handed  on  their  religious  creed 
and  their  personal  piety  ;t  and  Philander  Chase  was  born 
of  parents  who  had  first  ventured  amidst  the  shadows  of 
the  mighty  forest,  supported  only  by  their  own  stout  hearts, 
and  an  unshaken  confidence  in  their  covenant  God.  The 
youngest  of  fourteen  children,  most  of  whom  had  left  their 
lather's  tent  in  the  forest  for  the  various  walks  of  busy  life, 
Philander's  early  aspirations  pointed  to  the  patriarchal  life, 
of  which  the  grey-haired  man  before  him  was  so  encourag- 
ing an  instance.  He  would  close  that  father's  eyes,  and 
inherit  the  home-farm  his  hands  had  formed  out  of  the 
forest. 

But  God  had  destined  him  for  greater  things  ;  and 
severe  sutierings,  first  from  a  maimed  and  then  from  a 
broken  limb,  were  His  messengers  of  good  to  the  young 
farmer.  During  his  son's  long  confinement  the  old  man 
watched  by  his  sleepless  bed,  and  read  to  him  the  writing 
of  the  hand  wliich  had  thus  come  forth  lor  him  upon  the 
wall  ;  "  By  these  suilerings  God  was  calhng  to  Himself  His 
destined  servant  ;  college  life  and  the  service  of  the  minis- 
try were  plainly  his  appointed  sphere." 

To  college  accordingly  he  went  ;  and  falling  in  there 

*  Reminiscences  of  Bi.shop  Chase,  by  himself,  passim. 

f  The  family -records  give  a  passing  picture  of  Puritan  life  amongst 
the  pilgrims  of  Massachusetts,  in  reconhng  that  Capl.  Aquila  Chase, 
a  leading  man  amongst  them,  was  brought  to  trial  because  on  his 
reaching  home,  from  a  long  voyage,  on  Sunday  morning,  his  wife 
had  gathered  and  dressed  her  first  dish  of  green  peas  to  welcouje 
him.  It  was  in  vain  tliat  lie  pleaded  the  danger  of  scurvy  and  ne- 
cessities of  health  ;  the  utmost  favor  he  received  was,  to  escape  the 
infliction  of  "forty -stripes-save -one"  by  the  payment  of  a  heavy 
fine. 


240  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

with  the  Common  Prayer-Book,  he  was  won  over  by  its 
holy  tone,  and  its  exhibition  of  "  the  authenticated  claims"* 
of  the  Episcopal  ministry  to  an  apostolic  commission  ;  and 
he  returned  to  the  farm  upon  the  Connecticut,  to  lead  back 
his  aged  father  into  the  Church  from  which  he  and  his 
had  been  so  long  estranged.  By  their  own  hands  and  with 
entire  harmony  of  feeling,  the  meeting-house,  where  his 
father  and  his  grandfather  had  officiated  as  congregational 
deacons,  was  pulled  down,  and  a  church  erected  in  its 
stead.  Here  they  welcomed  the  occasional  visits  of  dis- 
tant clergy  ;  and  here,  in  their  absence,  and  under  their 
direction.  Philander  Chase  read,  as  a  layman,  prayers  and 
sermons. 

He  was  now  twenty  years  of  age,  and  his  heart  was 
set  upon  the  labors  of  the  ministry.  But  how  to  obtainordi- 
nation  he  knew  not.  No  theological  seminaries  then  shel- 
tered early  piety,  and  fostered  such  pious  resolutions  ;  no 
bishop  was  at  hand  to  direct  and  crown  his  labors.  With 
trembling  steps,  and  all  the  bashfulness  of  youth,  he  set 
out  for  Albany  to  obtain  help  and  guidance.  "  A  rebufl' 
would  have  turned  his  face  another  way." 

But  he  met  with  no  such  discouragement.  He  reached 
Albany,  and  was  directed  to  the  house  of  the  "  English 
dominie."  "  Is  this  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ellison's  ?"  he  asked, 
as  the  top  of  a  Dutch-built  door  was  opened  by  a  portly 
gentleman  in  black,  with  prominent  and  piercing  eyes,  and 
powdered  hair.  Having  announced  his  name  and  errand, 
he  was  greeted  with  a  "  God  bless  you,  come  in  I"  which 
fixed  his  lot  for  life.  After  almost  three  years  of  study  and 
preparation,  he  was  ordained  deacon,  in  May  1798,  by 
Bishop  Provoost  of  New-York. 

His  first  sphere  of  labor  was  in  the  western  parts  of 
the  diocese  of  New- York.  Here  he  was  employed  as  a 
domestic  missionary  upon  the  outskirts  of  civilized  life. 
Over  that  district,  where  within  a  few  years  afterwards 
large  and  prosperous  towns  abounded,  the  mighty  forest 
then  stretched,  and  its  only  inhabitants  were  the  emigrant 
villagers  who  Merc  busy  in  settling   these  outposts  of  so- 

*  Bishop  Cbase's  Reminiscences. 


FIRST    LABORS    OF    PHILANDER    CHASE.  241 

ciety.  Amongst  them  the  young  evangelist  labored  with 
his  whole  heart,  thinking  nothing  of  the  many  toils  and 
privations  which  such  a  mode  of  lite  entailed.  AVith  these 
he  was  soon  familiar.  As  he  travelled  to  his  own  sphere 
of  labor,  he  fell  in  with  a  brother  missionary,  afterwards 
known  and  highly  honored.  He  was  living  in  "a  cabin 
built  of  unhewn  logs,  with  scarcely  a  pane  of  glass  to  let 
in  hffht  sufficient  to  read  his  Bible  ;  and  even  this  was 
not  his  own,  nor  long  allowed  for  his  use."  Chase  arrived 
at  the  moment  of  such  a  dispossession,  and  assisted  him  to 
carry  his  articles  of  crockery  to  a  new  abode,  "  holding  one 
handle  of  the  basket  as  they  walked  the  road,  talkuig  of 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God,"  whilst  they 
bore  all  his  substance  into  the  little  one-roomed  cabin,  the 
rude  door  of  which  hung  creaking  on  its  wooden  hinges. 
This  man  was  "  the  founder  of  the  Church  in  the  Otsego 
country  :"  and  it  was  at  the  cost  of  such  self-denial  that 
the  Gospel  was  planted  in  the  west. 

Into  these  labors  Chase  entered  heartily ;  and  as  his 
work  was  greatly  blessed  by  God,  he  had  the  joy  of  seeing 
several  flourishing  congregations  gathered  by  his  hands 
into  settled  parishes.  In  this  neighborhood  he  remained 
some  years,  until  the  need  of  a  milder  climate  for  his  wife 
sent  him  southward,  and,  at  the  advice  of  his  bishop,  he 
settled  at  New  Orleans,  near  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  Here,  where  no  minister  of  the  reformed  com- 
munion had  yet  appeared,  he  Ibrnied  another  parish  ;  and, 
after  six  years'  labor,  returned  to  New  England,  and  was, 
for  six  more,  rector  of  a  church  at  Hartford  in  Connecticut. 
In  this  parish  he  was  greatly  beloved  :  but,  amidst  all  the 
enjoyments  of  civilized  society,  his  thoughts  would  often 
wander  to  the  desolate  districts  of  the  West ;  to  the  lonely 
"  clearing,"  and  to  the  growing  villages  where  the  name 
of  Christ  was  daily  more  and  more  forgotten  ;  he  thought 
upon  his  own  labors  in  time  past  until  his  heart  yearned 
to  be  again  employed  in  that  higli  and  holy  enterprise  ;  and 
accordingly,  hi  IS  17,  he  set  out  once  more  upon  his  mis- 
sionary work. 

Since  the  days  of  his  former  labors  in  the  back  districts 
of  New-York,  the  mighty  tide  of  civilized  life  had  swept 
11 


242  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

on  far  to  the  west.  His  former  desolate  stations  were  now 
populous  towns,  and  the  early  seed  which  he  had  scattered 
in  the  waste  had  ripened  into  a  harvest ;  for  through  his 
labors,  the  institutions  and  influence  of  Christianity  had 
healed  the  spring-head  of  social  life  amongst  the  earliest 
settlers  before  they  had  swelled  into  an  irreligious  multi- 
tude. 

As  he  retraced  his  steps  over  his  old  sphere  of  duty, 
he  marked  the  changes,  which  he  thus  records  : — "  I  re- 
member these  busy  villages  one  dreary  salt  marsh  ;  except 
two  or  three  cabins  for  boiling  salt — most  unsightly  and 
uncomfortable,  because  only  tenanted  in  winter — there 
were  no  appearances  of  civilized  men."*  "  Where,"  he 
asked  of  one  of  his  old  flock,  "  was  the  cabin  in  which  I 
baptised  your  family  ?"  "  I  will  show  you,"  said  he,  taking 
his  hat  and  a  great  key;  "  but  we  must  stop  at  the  church 
as  we  go  along."  And  so  they  did.  There  it  stood  where 
the  tall  tree  so  lately  occupied  the  ground.  It  was  a  beau- 
tiful, well-finished  edifice.  "  This  is  the  tree  Avhich  you 
planted;  may  it  bear  fruit  acceptable  to  the  heavenly 
Husbandman  I"  The  site  of  the  old  cabin  was  found  occu- 
pied by  the  "bustle  of  business;  coaches  passing,  ware- 
houses on  each  side  lofty  and  well  supplied,  streets  paved, 
and  sidewalks  flagged."  Such  is  the  rapid  upgrowth  of 
civilized  life  in  the  ancient  domain  of  the  western  forest. 

To  the  difficulties  and  the  blessing  of  planting  the 
Church  in  the  waste,  the  heart  of  Chase  was  still  drawn, 
and  he  sought,  therefore,  his  new  field  of  labor  in  yet  re- 
moter districts.  He  passed  on  to  the  state  of  Ohio,  where 
the  straggling  villages  of  the  distant  settler  were  beginning 
to  stud  the  long  unbroken  forest.  All  his  soul  was  in  his 
work,  and  again  he  was  greatly  prospered  in  it.  One  by 
one  other  clergymen  came  to  his  aid  ;  parishes  were  fonned  ; 
and  in  the  very  year  after  his  coming  amongst  them,  the 
new  diocese  of  Ohio  was  organized.  At  its  second  diocesan 
convention,  he  who  had  brought  to  them  the  message  of 
salvation  was,  by  the  votes  of  both  laity  and  clergy,  elected 
as  their  bishop.     In  February  1819  he  was  consecrated  in 

*  Bishop  Chase's  Reminiscencea,  vol.  i.  p.  53, 


LABORS   OF    BISHOP   CHASE.  243 

the  town  of  Philadelphia  by  the  good  old  Bishop  White, 
assisted  by  Bishops  Hobart,  Kemp,  and  Croes,  and  entered 
directly  on  his  work.  Anxiously  did  the  new  bishop  watch 
over  his  rising  diocese  ;  he  was  still  in  heart  what  he  had 
ever  been  ;  and  though  now  a  ruler  of  Christ's  Church,  he 
was,  as  of  old,  a  devoted  missionary,  constantly  engaged 
in  seeking  to  carry  on,  in  every  direction,  the  work  in  which 
he  had  so  diligently  labored. 

In  eflecting  this  he  spared  himself  no  exertion.  His 
diocesan  labors  involved  "  vast  distances  of  journey ings  on 
horseback,  under  the  burning  sun  and  pelting  rain,  through 
the  mud  and  amid  the  beech-roots,  over  log  bridges  and 
through  swollen  streams."  It  was  no  w^onder  that  he 
reached  the  end  of  his  circuit  of  "  1279  miles  on  horseback 
with  his  constitution  impaired  and  his  voice  almost  gone."* 
Fresh  cares  met  him  at  the  threshold  of  his  home.  "  Three 
parishes  were  to  be  supplied,"  (lay  readers  being  often  his 
only  substitute  during  his  necessary  absence,)  "  two  of  them 
nearly  fifteen  miles  distant  from  his  residence."  In  spite 
of  close  economy,  there  was  within  doors  "but  a  poor  pros- 
pect for  the  coming  winter  ;"  with  a  sickly  w^ife,  and  this 
press  of  Episcopal  and  pastoral  care,  "  there  was  not  a 
dollar  left,  after  satisfying  the  hired  man  for  the  past, 
wherewithal  to  engage  him  for  the  future  ;  and  as  for  the 
makhig  promises  when  there  was  no  prospect  of  making 
payment,  such  had  ever  been  regarded  as  a  sin.  The  hired 
man  was  then,  from  a  principle  of  duty,  discharged.  The 
result  w-as  inevitable  ;"  the  bishop  "  must  do  what  the 
man  would,  if  retained,  have  done ;  i.  e.  thrash  the  grain, 
haul  and  cut  the  wood,  build  the  fires,  and  feed  the  stock." 

With  such  anxieties  would  mingle  doubts  whether 
he  had  done  rightly  in  accepting  the  arduous  trust  of 
such  an  episcopate.  But  these  dark  clouds  seldom  set- 
tled on  his  mind.  They  are  commonly  dispersed  by  ac- 
tive exertion,  and  Bishop  Chase  was  ahyays  active, 
Wherever  an  opening  appeared,  he  was  ready  to  attend,  to 
show  the  fair  front  of  the  Church's  goodly  order,  and  plant 
the  standard  of  his  ^Master  ;  and  for  this  work  his  zeal  and 
earnestness  fitted  him  remarkably. 

•  Bishop  Chase's  Reminiscences,  p.  192. 


244  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

His  journey,  at  the  call  of  Samuel  Gumi,  is  an  exam- 
ple of  his  labors  ;  for  such  calls  were  continually  arising. 
In  these  cases  the  ground  was  happily  prepared,  and  the 
bishop's  main  work  was  to  foster  the  weak  beginnings  of  the 
apostolical  communion,  and  to  provide  pastors  for  its  min- 
istry. But  he  did  not  confine  himself  to  these  more  favor- 
ed spots  ;  all  through  his  diocese,  wherever  the  flow  of  civi- 
lised life  carried  the  settler  from  the  means  of  grace,  there 
was  turned  the  attention  of  the  bishop,  and  there,  if  it  was 
possible,  was  soon  seen  his  fatherly  presence.  In  the  year 
1820  these  objects  took  him  on  horseback  through  his  dio- 
cese (carriage-roads  not  having  yet  been  made),  a  distance 
of  almost  1300  miles. 

But  all  his  personal  energy  could  not  supply  the  want 
of  instruments.  To  "  ordain  elders  in  every  district"  was 
his  earnest  desire.  To  commit  the  flock  to  a  regular  min- 
istry, who  should  daily  cement  and  carry  on  to  perfectness 
the  goodly  building,  the  foundations  of  which  he,  as  a  wise 
master-builder,  had  laid, — this  was  the  longing  of  Bishop 
Chase's  heart.  The  want  was  pressing  and  weighed  like 
a  heavy  burden  on  his  soul.  He  saw  "  the  whole  com- 
munity of  those  western  settlements  sinking  fast  in  igno- 
rance and  its  never-failing  attendants,  vice  and  fanaticism. 
"  Our  own  Church,"  he  declares,  "  is  like  a  discomfited 
army  seeking  for  strange  food  in  forbidden  fields,  or  sitting 
in  solitary  groups  by  tlie  way-side  fainling,  famishing,  and 
dying.  .  ,  .  ,  No  missionaries  make  their  appearance.  .  . 
Those  M'ho  transiently  visit  us  pass  like  meteors,  leaving 
behind  little  or  no  salutary  etiect."*  Fixed  and  settled 
pastors  were  what  the  people  required. 

But  the  work  of  the  ministry  amongst  the  wild  and 
straggling  settlers  of  the  West  required  peculiar  gifts  and 
habits.  Clergy  Avho  had  been  accustomed  to  labor  in  moi'e 
civilised  districts  were  in  a  great  measure  unfitted  ior  the 
charge  ;  and  the  bishop  saw,  therefore,  the  necessity  of 
founding  a  college  in  his  own  diocese  to  prepare  proper  in- 
struments for  this  peculiar  service.  He  laid  his  plans  be- 
fore his  diocesan  convention,  and   with   their   concurrence 

*  Reminiscences. 


BISHOP  chase's  college.  245 

resolved  to  visit  England,  and  collect  subscriptions  for  the 
endowment  of  his  college.  In  virging  his  cause  here,  he 
had  not  only  the  general  claim  of  spiritual  relationship  to 
wliich  the  Church  of  the  mother  country  has  ever  gladly 
answered,  but  a  further  title  to  assistance  in  the  fact,  that 
about  one-third  of  all  the  population  of  his  diocese  Avere 
British  emigrants.  DilTiculties  of  various  kinds  opposed  his 
resolution.  He  left  behind  him  a  dying  son  ;  his  resources 
would  not  prudently  warrant  the  excursion  ;  and  the  bulk 
of  Churchmen  east  of  the  Alleghany  mountains  discouraged, 
whilst  some  opeidy  opposed,  his  undertaking.  All  this 
made  his  heart  ache,  but  it  could  not  turn  back  his  steps. 
After  appointing  a  day  for  fasting  and  prayer  in  his  own 
diocese,  and  seeking  the  intercession  of  the  Church  through- 
out the  west,  he  sailed  for  England  in  October  1823;  and 
there,  after  bravely  making  head  for  a  season  against  a  re- 
petition of  the  same  difficulties  which  had  often  met  him 
in  America,  he  collected  more  than  six  thousand  pounds 
for  his  noble  object.  This  enabled  him,  on  his  return,  to 
purchase  8000  acres  of  good  land,  and  begin  to  build  a  col- 
lege and  village,  to  which,  in  remembrance  of  two  of  his 
most  active  friends  in  England,  he  gave  respectively  the 
names  of  Kenyon  and  Gambler. 

In  erecting  these  all  the  bishop's  energj'  of  character  was 
seen.  Not  content  with  undertaking  the  office  of  post-master, 
that  he  might  have  the  privilege  of  franking  the  multitude 
of  letters  which  his  enterprise  required  him  to  circulate,  he 
acted  as  chief  builder  also.  "  He  rises,"*  says  his  friend 
and  coadjutor,  "  at  three  every  morning,  and  is  engaged 
tdl  night  in  superintending  the  workmen  on  the  college 
buildings."  The  results  "were  commensurate  with  these 
exertions.  The  college  M'as  soon  in  full  operation.  "  "With- 
in two  years  from  the  time  when  the  lowest  story  was  yet 
incomplete,  and  tall  trees  covered  the  lace  of  the  ground, 
whilst  the  students  occupied  temporary  wooden  houses,  in 
which  the  frost  of  winter  and  the  heat  of  summer  alter- 
nately predominated,  and  the  laborious  bishop  inhabited  a 
cabin  of  rough  logs,  tlie  interstices  of  which  were  filled  with 

*  America  and  the  American  Church,  p.  26. 


246  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

clay, — ^the  massive  stone  walls  of  the  college,  four  feet  thick 
and  four  stories  in  height,  lifted  themselves  almost  to  the 
elevation  of  the  surrounding  woods,  and  a  tall  steeple  indi- 
cated its  situation  to  the  distant  wanderer."  Around  it 
also  all  was  changed.  The  clearing  had  proceeded  rapidly ; 
"  several  hundred  acres  of  rich  land  supplied  grain  in  abun- 
dance, and  pasture  for  numerous  cattle.  A  printer  inhab- 
ited the  bishop's  former  domicile,  and  published  a  religious 
newspaper,  denominated  the  '  Gambler  Obsei'ver ;'  while  the 
students  were  in  part  2:>rovided  with  commodious  dwellings, 
and  in  part  supplied  with  lodgings  in  the  college  beneath 
the  same  roof  with  the  bishop  and  the  pi'ofessors." 

Of  these  students,  many  were  destined  for  the  different 
walks  of  ordinary  life  ;  but  a  considerable  number  also 
were  here  trained,  under  the  bishop's  eye,  for  the  peculiar 
services  of  a  far-western  clergyman.  To  these  they  were 
here  accustomed  even  during  the  time  of  their  college  life  ; 
and  they  therefore  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their 
ministry  with  the  habits  already  formed  which  they  after- 
wards needed.  They  maintained  Sunday-schools,  and  in 
other  ways  supplied  the  religious  wants  of  the  settlers 
within  a  circuit  of  some  miles  around  the  college.  We 
may  follow  one  of  them*  in  his  accustomed  labors.  "We 
rise  early  (on  a  summer  morning),  and  sally  forth  with  a 
few  books  and  some  frugal  provision  for  the  day.  We  pro- 
ceed about  half  a  mile  through  the  noble  aboriginal  forest, 
the  tall  and  straight  trees  appearing  like  pillars  in  a  vast 
Gothic  cathedral.  The  timber  consists  of  oak,  hickoiy, 
sugar-maple,  sycamore,  walnut,  poplar,  and  chesnut,  and 
the  wild  vine  hangs  from  the  branches  in  gracelul  festoons. 
Occasionally  we  hear  the  song  of  birds,  but  less  frequently 
than  in  England.  Generally  deep  silence  prevails,  and 
prepares  the  mind  lor  serious  contemplation.  AVe  soon 
arrive  at  a  small  clearing,  where  a  cabin  built  of  rough 
logs  indicates  the  residence  of  a  family.  Around  the  cabin 
are  several  acres  upon  which  gigantic  ti'ees  are  yet  sta)id- 
ing,  but  perfectly  deadened  by  the  operation  called  'gird- 
ling.'    Their  bark  has  chiefly  fallen  off,   and  the  gaunt 

*America  and  the  American  Church,  p.  35,  &c. 


KENVON  COLLEGE  STUDENTS.        ,    247 

white  limbs  appear  dreary,  thouj^h  majestic  in  decay. 
Upon  the  abundant  grass  Avhich  has  sprung  up  since  the 
rays  of  the  sun  were  admitted  to  the  soil,  a  number  of 
cattle  are  feeding,  and  the  tinkling  of  their  bells  is  almost 
the  only  sound  which  strikes  the  ear.  We  climb  over  the 
fence  of  split  rails  piled  in  a  zigzag  form,  cross  the  pasture, 
and  are  again  in  the  deep  forest.  The  surface  of  the  ground 
is  of  an  undulating  character,  while  our  pathway  carries 
us  by  a  log-hut  surrounded  by  a  small  clearing.  After  an 
liour  we  arrive  at  a  rudely  constructed  saw-mill  erected  on 
a  small  stream  of  water.  The  miller  is  seated  at  his  cabin- 
door  in  his  Sunday  clothes,  and  is  readuig  a  religious  book 
which  we  have  lent  him  before.  We  now  talk  to  him  ; 
his  interest  in  the  Church  is  growing,  and  he  offers  us  his 
horse  for  our  future  expeditions  ;  we  accept  it,  and  proceed 
with  its  assistance  on  our  course.  After  another  hour  we 
reach  a  village  of  log-cottages,  at  the  end  of  which  is  a 
schoolroom,  around  which  a  temporary  arbor  is  constructed, 
covered  with  fresh  boughs.  In  this  the  children  of  the 
neighbors  soon  gather  round  us,  and  with  them  often  come 
their  friends  and  parents.  When  a  goodly  company  is 
thus  assembled,  a  hymn  is  given  out  and  sung  ;  then  all 
kneel  for  prayer,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  Church-service 
is  repeated  from  memory,  from  a  tender  regard  to  the  pre- 
judices of  many  who,  until  they  have  learned  a  better 
lesson,  would  turn  away  if  they  were  told  that  they  listened 
to  the  Church's  voice.  Then,  under  the  sanction  of  the 
bishop,  a  few  words  of  exhortation  are  added  where  the 
student  is  a  candidate  for  holy  orders.  We  then  instruct 
the  children,  and,  having  finished  this,  set  out  upon  our 
journey  homeward." 

The  reception  of  these  messengers  of  peace  was  widely 
various.  In  all  cases,  indeed,  they  appear  to  have  received 
from  the  settlers  that  hospitality  which  is  the  uniform  ac- 
companiment of  imperfect  civilization.  But  while  they 
were  Avelcomed  by  some  as  spiritual  guides,  by  others  they 
and  their  objects  were  looked  at  witli  the  most  watchful 
suspicion.  Thus  one  backwood  farmer  received  gladly  the 
wandering  students,  and  lavished  upon  their  reception  aU. 
the  stores  of  his  rude  hospitality  ;  but  when  he  found  that 


248  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

tliey  were  inJaabitants  of  Gambler,  and  emissaries  of  Ken- 
yon  College,  liis  countenance  fell,  and,  with  the  sincerity 
of  a  backwood  freeman,  he  at  once  expressed  his  apprehen- 
sions of  such  visitants.^  "  I  have  fought  the  British,"  he 
told  them,  "  in  the  revolutionary  war,  and  I  haA'^e  again 
encountered  them  in  the  last  war,  and  I  know  something 
of  their  character.  I  know  that  they  would  not  contribute 
so  many  thousand  pounds  to  build  a  college  in  Ohio  with- 
out soine  sinister  object.  I  am,  therefore,  convinced  that 
Bishop  Chase  is  an  agent  employed  by  them  to  introduce 
British  domination  here.  The  college  is,  in  fact,  a  fortress  ; 
all  you  students  are  British  soldiers  in  disguise  ;  and  "v^^hen 
you  think  you  have  the  opportunity,  you  will  throw  off  the 
mask  and  proclaim  the  King  of  England."  No  explana- 
tion or  assurance  could  dispel  the  scruples  of  the  old  man, 
who  was  a  Calvinistic  Anabaptist  in  religion,  and  proba- 
bly a  fiery  democrat  in  politics. 

At  other  times,  this  is  the  narrative  of  their  reception  : 
"  We  have  scarcely  left  the  village,  when  a  blacksmith 
runs  after  us  and  requests  us  to  stop.  He  tells  us  that  he 
has  felt  deeply  interested  in  the  services,  that  he  desires 
more  information,  and  that  he  wishes  us  always  to  dine 
with  him  on  Sundays  in  future.  We  accordingly  retvirn  to 
his  cabin  ;  and  his  wife  sets  before  us  a  plentiful  repast  of 
chickens,  potatoes,  hot  bread,  apple-pies,  and  milk.  After 
some  profitable  conversation  we  depart,  and  at  about  three 
o'clock  arrive  at  the  miller's  house,  almost  overcome  by 
the  excessive  heat.  When  we  have  somewhat  recovered 
from  our  fatigue,  we  proceed  to  a  spot  on  the  banks  of  the 
stream  where  the  grass  is  smooth  and  the  thick  foliage 
produces  a  comparative  coolness.  Here  we  find  about  one 
hundred  persons  collected  in  the  hope  of  receiving  from  us 
some  religious  instruction.  We  conduct  the  service  much 
in  the  same  way  as  in  the  morning.  The  effect  of  the 
singing  in  the  open  air  is  striking  and  peculiar  ;  and  the 
prayers  of  our  liturgy  are  no  less  sublime  in  the  forests  of 
Ohio  than  in  the  consecrated  and  time-honored  mhisters 
of  York  or  Canterbury."! 

*  Caswall's  America  and  the  American  Church,  p.  45. 
•)•  America  and  the  American  Church,  p.  S8. 


KEXYON  COLLEGE  STXTDEXTS.  249 

In  such  natural  sanctuaries  are  sometimes  celebrated 
all  the  rites  of  our  most  holy  faith.  One  such  in  Delaware 
County,  Ohio,  is  thus  described  by  an  eye-witness  :  "  The 
place  of  worship  was  a  beautiful  orchard,  where  the 
abundant  blossoms  of  the  apple  and  the  peach  filled  the 
air  with  their  delicious  odor.  A  table  for  the  Communion 
was  placed  on  the  green  grass,  and  covered  with  a  cloth 
of  snowy  whiteness.  Adjoining  the  rustic  altar,  a  little 
stand  was  erected  for  the  clergyman,  and  a  number  of 
benches  were  provided  for  the  congregation.  A  large 
number  attended,  and  behaved  with  the  strictest  propriety. 
Besides  the  service  for  the  day,  baptism  was  administered 
by  the  missionary  to  three  or  four  adults,  a  stirring  extem- 
pore sermon  was  delivered,  and  the  Lord's  Supper  comple- 
ted the  solemnities."* 

But  to  return  to  our  Kenyon  College  ^•students,  whom 
we  must  follow  home  :  "  The  service  concluded,  we  retm-n 
on  foot ;  and  as  we  approach  the  college  with  weary  steps, 
the  fire-flies  glisten  in  the  increasing  darkness.  AYe  arrive 
at  our  rooms  fatigued  in  body,  but  refreshed  in  mind,  and 
encouraged  to  new  eflbrts." 

By  such  exertions  as  these  the  Church  was  widely 
spread  throughout  the  "West.  From  them  the  sound  of  the 
Gospel  reached  the  settler's  family  ;  by  them,  under  God's 
blessing,  was  formed  first  the  struggling  parish,  and  after- 
wards the  ill-endowed  but  laborious  diocese,  extending  over 
its  fifty  thousand  square  miles,  and  carrying  into  the  waste 
the  germ  of  civilization  and  of  order. 

The  want  of  funds  proved  the  great  hindrance  to  these 
domestic  missions.  Years  must  commonly  pass  before  the 
spiritual  laborer  saw  gathered  round  him  a  flock  sufficient 
to  maintain  him  in  his  work.  This,  therefore,  was  one' 
gi'eat  demand  of  Christian  charity,  and  eflbrts  were  made 
in  various  places  to  respond  to  it.  Thus  in  Philadelphia, 
as  early  as  1812,  there  was  a  movement  in  this  direction, 
begun  by  the  zeal  and  earnestness  of  Jackson  Kemper,  then 
a  deacon  there.  In  New- York  also,  which  was  soon  to  be 
the  centre  of  the   Christian  charity  of  .North  America, 

*  America  and  the  American  Church,  p.  286. 
11* 


250  AMERICAN   CHURCH, 

Bishop  Hobart  took,  in  1813,  an  important  step  in  the 
same  cause.  He  proposed  and  carried  through  a  canon 
which  made  it  imperative  on  every  congregation  in  the 
diocese  once  a  year  to  collect  funds  for  this  specific  object. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  great  things.  The  cause  grew 
under  his  hand,  and  the  noble  aspect  it  assumed  a  few 
years  later  may  be  traced  to  this  as  its  beginning. 

But  this  was  not  the  only  species  of  domestic  missions 
which  engaged  his  attention.  There  was  another  race  of 
men  who  had  the  strongest  claims  on  all  Americans  ;  these 
soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Bishop  of  New- York. 
In  surveying  the  teeming  multitudes  of  European  origin 
who  now  fill  the  shores  of  the  great  western  continent,  the 
question  often  recurs  sadly  to  the  mind,  Where  are  those 
who  were  its  former  tenants  ?  where  are  the  red  men,  to 
whom  the  God  fcf  heaven  had  apportioned  out  by  lot  the 
hunting-grounds  and  forests  on  whose  site  now  stand  the 
busy  cities  of  the  West  ?  The  answer  is  a  mournful  one 
to  every  thoughtful  mind.  Scarcely  one  of  them  remains. 
War,  ti'eachery,  famine,  and,  above  all,  diseases  of  Euro- 
pean growth,  have  mowed  down  whole  nations  of  Indians, 
until  they  are  not  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  A  few  re- 
main ;  and  as  these  have  rarely  become  mingled  with  their 
white  invaders,  they  have  been  continually  beaten  back 
farther  and  farther  into  the  interior,  as  the  tide  of  civilised 
life  gradually  rose  upon  them. 

At  length  the  government  of  the  United  States  has 
taken  upon  itself  to  confer  titles  to  their  land,  and  to  remove 
them  to  certain  "  reserves, "of  M'hich  it  guarantees  to  them 
the  undisturbed  possession.  The  whole  subject  must  give 
rise  to  bitter  reflections.  But  this  surely  is  the  first  qiiestion 
which  rises  on  the  mind,  What  has  the  Church  of  Christ 
done  for  this  unhappy  race  ?  Has  it,  according  to  its  char- 
tered rights,  received  into  itself  these  children  of  the  human 
family,  and,  by  its  greater  boons  of  heavenly  light  and  ever- 
lasting life,  turned  all  their  other  losses  into  gain  ?  The 
answer  to  this  question  also  involves  a  catalogue  of  fearful 
facts.  It  is  therefore  with  peculiar  pleasure  that  Ave  light 
here  and  there  upon  plans  and  efibrts  devised  in  the  spirit 
of  those  times  when  apostles  bore  to  men  of  every  blood 


ELEAZEK.    WILLIAMS.  251 

the  message  of  salvation.     To  some  such  we  are  led  in  sur- 
veying the  course  of  Bishop  Hobart's  episcopate. 

In  the  year  1815  his  attention  was  called  to  the  condi- 
tion of  a  portion  of  the  tribe  of  the  Iroquois,  distinguished  as 
the  Oneidas,  M'ho,  to  the  number  of  four  thousand,  were 
settled  on  some  "  reserved"  lands  known  by  the  name  of 
"  the  Oneida  country."  His  first  object  was  to  find  a  pro- 
per instrument  for  carrying  out  amongst  them  his  purposes 
of  Christian  love.  His  search  was  not  in  vain;  he  was 
guided  to  one  of  their  ovm  blood  who  had  received  a  Chris- 
tian education,  and  could  speak  to  them  of  the  name  of 
Jesus  in  the  beloved  accents  of  their  fathers'  tongue. 

The  history  of  Eleazer  AYilliams,  whom  he  now  sent  to 
them,  is  full  of  that  romance  by  which  Indian  life  is  so  fre- 
quently distinguished.  Amongst  the  last  inroads  of  the 
Indian  tribes  upon  the  white  m.en's  settlements,  was  one 
against  the  frontier  village  of  Deerfield  in  Connecticut.  It 
proved  so  far  successful  that  the  red  men  returned  to  their 
trackless  forests  loaded  with  all  kinds  of  booty.  Among.st 
their  various  prey  they  carried  off  the  wife  and  children  of 
the  rector  of  the  village,  the  Rev.  Mr.  AYilliams,  who  was 
absent  at  the  time.  He  returned  home  to  learn  the  full 
extent  of  his  calamity ;  and  with  a  bleeding  heart,  set  out 
at  once  to  seek  for  those  Avith  whom  his  life  was  thus 
bound  up.  Years  passed  over  him  in  his  fruitless  and 
heart-sickening  toil ;  but  still  he  desisted  not  until  he  was 
at  last  guided  to  their  haunt  in  the  distant  prairie.  But 
when  he  had  found  them,  all  would  not  return.  One 
daughter  of  his  house  had  wedded  an  Indian  chief,  and  she 
refused  to  leave  the  land  of  her  adoption.  Little  could  the 
pious  lather  forecast  the  blessing  which  was  thus  in  store 
for  his  despoilers  :  for  from  this  marriage  sprung,  amongst 
others,  the  sou  who  was  now  the  bearer  of  the  message  of 
salvation  to  his  red  brethren  of  the  forest.  He  went  forth 
as  catechist  and  schoolmaster,  taking  with  him  portions  of 
the  Gospels  and  the  Psalms,  which,  through  the  bishop's 
care,  had  been  translated  into  their  native  dialect. 

The  blessing  of  God  rested  on  his  labors ;  and  some  of 
their  fruits  may  be  found  marlced  in  the  following  touching 
words  addressed  to  the  bishop  three   years   afterwards, 


252  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

in  the  name  of  his  brethren,  by  a  young  Indian  communi- 
cant : — 

"  Right  Rev.  Father, — AVe  sahite  you  in  the  name  of 
the  ever-adorable,  ever-blessed,  and  everlasting  sovereign 
Lord  of  the  universe  ;  we  acknowledge  the  great  and 
almighty  Being  as  our  Creator,  Preserver,  and  constant 
Benefactor. 

"  Right  Rev.  Father, — We  rejoice  that  we  now,  with 
one  heart  and  mind,  would  express  our  gratitute  and  thanks- 
giving to  our  great  and  venerable  father  for  the  favor  which 
he  has  bestowed  upon  this  nation,  viz.,  in  sending  brother 
Williams  among  us  to  instruct  us  in  the  religion  of  the 
blessed  Jesus.  When  he  first  came  to  us  we  hailed  him 
as  our  friend,  our  brother,  and  our  guide  in  spiritual  things, 
and  he  shall  remain  in  our  hearts  and  minds  as  long  as  he 
shall  teach  us  the  ways  of  the  great  Spirit  above. 

"  Right  Rev.  Father, — AYe  rejoice  to  say,  that  by  send- 
ing brother  Williams  among  us  a  great  light  has  risen  upon 
us ;  we  see  now  that  the  Chi-istian  religion  is  intended  for 
the  good  of  the  Indians  as  well  as  the  white  people  ;  we 
see  it  and  do  feel  it,  that  the  religion  of  the  Gospel  Avill 
make  us  happy  in  this  and  in  the  world  to  come.  We  now 
profess  it  outwardly,  and  we  hope,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
that  some  of  us  have  professed  it  inwardly.  May  it  ever 
remain  in  our  hearts,  and  we  be  enabled  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Eternal  One  to  practise  the  great  duties  which  it  points 
out  to  us. 

"  Right  Rev.  Father, — Agreeable  to  your  request,  Ave 
have  treated  our  brother  with  that  attention  and  kindness 
which  you  required  of  us ;  we  have  assisted  him  all  that 
was  in  our  power  as  to  his  support :  but  you  know  well 
that  we  are  poor  ourselves,  and  we  cannot  do  a  great  deal. 
Though  our  brother  has  lived  very  poor  since  he  came 
among  us,  but  he  is  patient  and  makes  no  complaint,  we 
pity  him,  because  we  love  him  as  we  do  ourselves.  We 
wish  to  do  something  for  his  support,  but  this  is  impossible 
for  us  to  do  at  i)resent,  as  we  have  lately  raised  between 
three  and  four  thousand  dollars  to  enable  us  to  build  a 
little  chapel. 

"  Right  Rev.  Father, — We  entreat  and  beseech  you  not 


ADDRESS   OF   BISHOP    HOBART.  253 

to  neglect  us.  "We  hope  the  Christian  people  in  New- York 
will  help  us  all  that  is  in  their  power.  We  hope  our  bro- 
ther will  by  no  means  be  withdrawn  from  us.  If  this 
should  take  place,  the  cause  of  religion  will  die  among  us, 
immorahty  and  wickedness  will  prevail. 

"  Right  Rev.  Father, — As  the  head  and  father  of  the 
holy  and  apostolical  Church  in  this  state,  we  entreat  you  to 
take  a  special  charge  of  us.  Wc  are  ignorant,  mean,  poor, 
and  need  your  assistance.  Come,  venerable  father,  and 
visit  your  children,  and  warm  their  hearts  by  your  pre- 
sence in  the  things  which  belong  to  their  everlasting  peace. 
May  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  whom  you  serve  be 
with  you,  and  His  blessing  ever  remain  with  you  I 

*'  We,  venerable  father,  remain  your  dutiful  child- 
ren." 

The  bishop's  ansM'er  breathes  an  apostolic  spi- 
rit :—  " 

"  My  children, — I  have  received  your  letter  by  your 
brother  and  teacher,  Eleazer  Williams,  and  return  your 
aiiectiouate  and  Christian  salutation,  praying  that  grace, 
mercy,  and  peace  from  God  the  Father  and  from  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  may  be  with  you. 

"My  children, — I  rejoice  to  hear  of  your  faith  in  the 
one  living  and  true  God,  andm  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  whom 
He  has  sent,  whom  to  know  is  life  eternal  :  and  I  pray  that, 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  you  may  be  kept  steadfast  in 
this  faith,  and  may  walk  worthy  of  Him  who  hath  called 
you  out  of  darkness  into  His  marvellous  light. 

"  My  children. — It  is  true,  as  you  say,  that  the  Gospel 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  is  intended  for  In- 
dians as  well  as  wliite  people.  For  the  great  Father  of 
all  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  ; 
and  hath  sent  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  to  teach  them  all,  and 
to  die  for  them  all,  that  they  may  be  redeemed  from  the 
power  of  sin,  and  brought  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the 
truth,  and  to  the  service  of  the  living  God. 

"  My  children, — It  is  true,  as  you  say,  that  the  religion 
of  the  Gospel  wiU  make  you  happy  in  this  world,  as  well 
as  in  the  world  to  come;  and  I  join  in  your  prayer,  that 
you  may  profess  it  inwardly  as  well  as  outwardly  ;  that, 


254  AlVIERICAN   CHURCH. 

by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  you  may  be  transformed 
by  the  renewing  of  your  minds,  and  acquire  holy  tempers, 
and  practise  the  holy  duties  which  the  Gospel  enjoins. 
And  ibr  this  purpose  I  beseech  you  to  attend  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  your  faithful  teacher  and  brother,  Eleazer  Wil- 
liams :  to  unite  with  him  in  the  holy  prayers  of  our  apos- 
tolic Church,  which  he  has  translated  into  your  own 
language  ;  to  listen  with  reverence  to  the  Divine  word 
which  he  reads  to  you  ;  to  receive,  as  through  grace  you 
may  be*  qualified,  and  may  have  an  opportunity,  the  sacra- 
ments and  ordinances  of  the  Church  ;  and  at  all  times,  and 
in  all  places,  to  lift  up  your  hearts  in  supplication  to  the 
Father  of  your  spirits,  who  always  and  every  where  hears 
and  sees  you,  for  pardon  and  grace,  to  comfort,  to  teach, 
and  to  sanctify  you,  through  your  divine  Mediator,  Jesus 
Christ. 

"  My  children, — Let  me  exhort  you  diligently  to  labor 
to  get  your  living  by  cultivating  the  earth,  or  by  some  other 
lawful  calling ;  you  will  thus  promote  your  worldly  com- 
fort, you  will  be  more  respected  among  your  white  breth- 
ren, and  more  united  and  strong  among  yourselves.  And 
when  you  are  thus  engaged,  you  will  be  saved  from  many 
temptations  ;  and  you  will  prove  yourselves  to  be  good  dis- 
ciples of  Him,  who,  by  His  inspired  apostle,  has  enjoined, 
that  while  we  are  '  fervent  in  spirit,'  we  be  '  not  slothful 
in  business.' 

"  My  children  — Continue  to  respect  and  to  love  your 
brother  and  teacher,  Eleazer  Williams,  and  to  treat  him 
kindly  ;  for  he  loves  you,  and  is  desirous  to  devote  himself 
to  your  service  ;  that,  by  God's  grace,  he  may  be  instru- 
mental in  making  you  happy  here  and  hereafter.  It  is  my 
wish  that  he  may  remain  with  you,  and  may  be  your  spi- 
ritual guide  and  instructor. 

"  My  children, — I  rejoice  to  hear  that  your  brethren, 
the  Onondagas,  are  desirous  of  knowing  the  words  of  truth 
and  salvation.  I  hope  you  will  not  complain  if  your  teach- 
er, Eleazer  Williams,  sometimes  visits  them,  to  lead  them 
in  that  way  to  eternal  life,  which,  froiu  God's  word,  he  has 
pointed  out  to  you.  Fi'eely  ye  have  received,  you  should 
freely  give  ;  and  being  made  partakers  of  the  grace  of  God 


BISHOP   HOBARt's   visit    TO   THE   ONEIDAS.  265 

tlirougli  Jesus  Christ,  you  should  be  desirous  that  all  your 
red  brethren  may  enjoy  the  same  precious  gift. 

"  My  children, — It  is  my  purpose,  if"  the  Lord  will,  to 
come  and  see  you  next  summer ;  and  I  hope  to  find  you  as 
good  Christians,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and 
living  righteously,  soberly  and  godly  iu  this  pi-esent  world. 
I  shall  liave  you  in  my  lieart,  and  shall  remember  you  in 
my  prayers,  for  you  are  a  part  of  my  charge,  of  that  flock 
for  whom  the  Son  of  God  gave  Himself  even  unto  the  death 
upon  the  cross,  and  whom  He  commanded  His  ministers  to 
seek  and  to  gather  unto  His  fold,  that  through  Him  they 
might  be  saved  for  ever. 

"My  children, — May    God  be  with   you   and    bles3 
you. 

{Signed)  John  Henry  Hobart, 

Bishop  of  tlie  Prot.  Epis.  Church  in  the 
Slate  of  New-York. 

Dated  at  New- York,  the  1st  day 
of  February,  in   the    year   of 
our   Lord   1818,   and   in    the 
seventh   year   of    my    conse- 
cration." 

From  this  promised  visit  no  other  engagements  could 
divert  him.  In  the  following  summer  he  penetrated  to 
the  Indian  reserves.  The  scene  he  witnessed  filled  him 
with  deeper  interest  for  his  red  children. 

Their  wide  extended  domains  were  lying  in  common, 
the  property  of  the  tribe,  not  of  individuals  ;  some  little  of 
it  cultivated,  more  in  open  pasture,  but  most  in  its  state 
of  native  wildness,  and  reserved  for  hunting-grovmd.  Through 
these  forests,  paths  there  were  many,  but  roads  none  ;  and 
the  generally  rude,  though  sometimes  neat  and  rustic  dwell- 
ings of  these  sons  of  the  forest  lay  scattered  in  wild  but 
picturesque  confusion — some  upon  gentle  eminences,  others 
in  rich  valleys  ;  some  open  to  the  sun,  others  embosomed 
in  shade  ;  and  exhibiting  here  and  there  traces  of  a  taste 
for  natural  scenery  which  recommended  them  still  further 
(at  least  as  objects  of  interesting  inquiry)  to  such  a  lover 
of  nature  as  Bishop  Hobart.     Among  those  who  flocked 


256  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

around  him  on  tliis  occasion,  as  he  stood  in  the  recesses  of 
their  primeval  forests,  was  one  aged  Moliawk  warrior,  who, 
amid  his  heathen  brethren,  had  lor  half  a  century  held  fast 
by  that  holy  faith  in  which  he  had  been  instructed  and 
baptised  by  a  missionary  from  the  society  in  England,  while 
these  states  were  still  colonies.  Through  the  catecliist  as 
interpreter,  he  now  recounted  the  event  in  the  figurative 
language  of  these  children  of  nature,  and  pointed  out  to 
his  admiring  auditor,  with  as  much  feeling  as  belongs  to 
that  imperturbable  race,  the  very  spot  where  this  early 
missionary  had  been  accustomed  to  assemble  them,  and 
preach  to  a  congregation  which,  as  it  afterwards  appeared, 
had  hstened  to  him  rather  from  curiosity  than   conviction. 

It  was,  as  the  bishop  in  conversation  described  it,  an 
open  glade  in  the  forest,  with  a  few  scattered  oaks  still 
vigorous  and  spreading  ;  and  within  view,  as  if  to  perpetu- 
ate the  association,  now  arose  the  tower  of  the  neat  rustic 
church,  which  the  Christian  party  among  them  had  recently 
erected.  To  his  next  convention  Bishop  Hobart  gave  his 
own  account  of  this  visit  to  the  Ibi-est  and  its  red  iuha- 
bitants  : — 

"  It  is  a  subject  of  congratulation,  that  our  Church  has 
resumed  the  labors  which,  for  a  long  period  before  the 
revolutionary  war,  the  society  in  England  for  Propagating 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  directed  to  the  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  Indian  tribes.  These  labors  were  not  wholly 
uusuccessful ;  for  on  my  recent  visit  to  the  Oneidas,  I  saw 
an  ancient  Mohawk,  who,  firm  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel, 
and  adorning  his  profession  by  an  exemplary  life,  is  in- 
debted, under  the  Divine  blessing,  for  his  Christian  princi- 
ples and  hopes,  to  the  missionaries  of  that  venerable  society. 
The  exertions  more  recently  made  for  the  conversion  of 
the  Indian  tribes  have  not  been  so  successful,  partly  be- 
cause not  united  with  eflbrts  to  introduce  among  them 
those  arts  of  civilisation  without  which  the  gospel  can 
neither  be  understood  nor  valued  ;  but  principally  because 
religious  instruction  was  conveyed  through  the  imperfect 
medium  of  interpreters,  by  those  unacquainted  with  their 
dispositions  and  habits,  and  in  whom  they  were  not  dis- 
posed to  place  the  same   confidence  as  in  those  who  are 


INDIAN    CONVERTS.  257 

connected  with  them  by  the  powerful  ties  of  language, 
of  manners,  and  of  kindred.  The  religious  instructor  of 
the  Oneidas  employed  by  our  church  enjoys  all  these  ad- 
vantages. Being  of  Indian  extraction,  and  acquainted 
with  their  language,  dispositions,  and  customs,  and  devot- 
ing himself  unremittingly  to  their  spiritual  and  temporal 
welfare,  he  enjoys  their  full  confidence,  while  the  educa- 
tion which  he  has  received  has  increased  liis  qualifications 
as  their  guide  in  the  faith  and  precepts  of  the  gospel.  Mr. 
Eleazer  Williams,  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  Oneida 
chiefs,  was  licensed  by  me  about  two  years  since,  as  their 
lay  reader,  catechist,  and  schoolmaster.  Educated  in  a 
diflerent  communion,  he  connected  himself  with  our  Cliiivch 
from  conviction,  and  appears  warmly  attached  to  her  doc- 
trines, her  apostolic  ministry,  and  her  worship.  Soon  after 
he  commenced  his  labors  among  the  Oneidas,  the  Pagan 
party  solemnly  professed  the  Christian  faith.  Mr.  "VYilliarns 
repeatedly  explained  to  them,  in  councils  which  they  held 
for  this  purpose,  the  evidences  of  the  divine  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  its  doctrines,  institutions,  and  precepts.  He 
combated  their  objections,  patiently  answered  their  inquiries, 
and  was  finally,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  successful  in 
sati.?fying  their  doubts.  Soon  after  their  conversion,  they 
appropriated,  in  conjunction  v\dth  the  old  Christian  party, 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  some  of  their  lands  to  the  erection 
of  a  handsome  edifice  for  divine  worship,  which  will  be 
shortly  completed. 

"  In  the  work  of  their  spiritual  instruction,  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  a  principal  part  of  which  has  been  trans- 
lated for  their  use,  proves  a  powerful  auxiliary.  Its  simple 
and  aliecting  exhibition  of  the  truths  of  redemption  is  cal- 
culated to  interest  their  hearts,  while  it  informs  their  un- 
derstanding ;  and  its  decent  and  significant  rites  contribute 
to  fix  their  attention  in  the  exei'cises  of  M'orship.  They  are 
particularly  gratified  with  having  parts  assigned  them  in 
the  service,  and  repeat  the  responses  with  great  propriety 
and  devotion.  On  my  visit  to  them,  several  hundred 
assembled  for  worship  ;  those  who  could  read  were  fur- 
nished with  books,  and  they  uttered  the  confessions  of  the 
liturgy,  responded  its  supplications,  and  chanted  its  hymns 


258  ,  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

of  praise,  with  a  reverence  and  fervor  which  powerfully- 
interested  the  feelings  of  those  who  witnessed  the  solem- 
nity. They  listened  to  my  address  to  them,  interpreted 
by  Mr.  Williams,  with  so  much  solicitous  attention,  they 
received  the  laying  on  of  hands  with  such  grateful  humil- 
ity, and  participated  in  the  symbols  of  their  Saviour's  love 
with  such  tears  of  penitential  devotion,  that  the  impres- 
sion which  the  scene  made  on  my  mind  Avill  never  be 
effaced.  Nor  was  this  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  or 
the  ebullition  of  enthusiasm.  The  eighty-nine  who  wei'e 
confirmed  had  been  well  instructed  by  Mr.  Williams  ;  and 
none  were  permitted  to  approach  the  communion  whose 
lives  did  not  correspond  with  their  Christian  professions. 
The  numbers  of  those  who  assembled  for  worship,  and 
partook  of  the  ordinances,  would  have  been  greater,  but 
from  the  absence  of  many  of  them  at  an  Indian  council  at 
Bufialo. 

"  I  have  admitted  Mr.  Williams  as  a  candidate  for 
orders,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  standing  committee  ; 
and  look  forwai'd  to  his  increased  influence  and  usefulness, 
should  he  be  invested  with  the  office  of  the  ministry. 

"  There  is  a  prospect  of  his  having,  some  time  hence,  a 
powerful  auxiliary  in  a  young  Indian,  the  son  of  the  head 
warrior  of  the  Ouondagas,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Chippewa,  and  who,  amiable  and  pious  in  his  dispositions, 
and  sprightly  and  vigorous  in  his  intellectual  powers,  is 
earnestly  desirous  of  receiving  an  education  to  pi'epare  him 
for  the  ministry  among  his  countrymen.  I  trust  that 
means  will  be  devised  for  accomplishing  his  wishes.  We 
ought  never  to  forget  that  the  salvation  of  the  gospel  is 
designed  for  all  the  human  race  ;  and  that  the  same  mercy 
which  applies  comfort  to  our  wounded  consciences,  the 
same  gi'ace  which  purifies  and  soothes  our  corrupt  and 
troubled  hearts,  and  the  same  hope  of  immortality  which 
fills  us  with  peace  and  joy,  can  exert  their  benign  and 
celestial  influence  on  the  humble  Indian." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

FROM  1820  TO  1836. 

American  education — Temper  of  American  youth — Jealousy  of  high 
education — Absence  of  theological  training — Foundation  of  the 
General  Tlieological  Seminary — Its  success — Bishop  Hobart's  con- 
nexion with  it — His  death — And  character — Bishop  B.  T.  Onder- 
donk  succeeds — Increase  of  tlie  episcopate — Bishops  Ravenscroft 
and  Ives  of  Xortli  Carolina — Bisliop  Meade  of  Virginia — And  H. 
U.  Onderdonk,  assistant  bishop  of  Pennsylvania — Bishop  Ciiase  of 
Ohio — Resign-;  his  bishopric — Consecrations  of  Bisliops  M'llvaine 
of  Ohio,  Hopkins  of  Vermont,  Smith  of  Kentucky,  and  Doane  of 
New  Jersey — Change  of  feeling  as  to  the  episcopate — Convention 
of  1835 — Bishop  Cliase  of  Illinois — Division  of  dioceses — New 
organization  of  missionary  board — The  missionary  bishop — Bishop 
Kemper  consecrated — Success  of  tlie  new  plan — Subsequent 
growth  of  the  Church — Bishop  White's  illness — Death  and  cha- 
racter. 

Amidst  the  various  subjects  wliich  occupied  the  miud  of 
Bishop  Ilobart,  one  had  constantly  recurred.  None,  indeed, 
more  deeply  concerned  North  America  than  the  influence 
of  tlie  Church  on  education.  This,  at  present,  is  more 
widely  spread  and  of  a  lower  standard  than  in  the  older 
nations  of  Europe.  Throuj^liout  the  eastern  states,  read- 
ing, writing,  geography,  and  arithmetic,  are  almost  univer- 
sal ;  and  even  some  measure  of  classical  attainment  is  by 
no  means  rare.  In  New- York,  in  1832,  out  of  a  popula- 
tion of  two  millions,  half  a  million,  or  one  in  four,  were  at 
school.*  It  is  asserted,  but  without  any  grounds  being 
given  to  justify  the  calculation,  that  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States,  one  in  five  are  under  education. f 
In  the  slave-states  of  the  south,  the  ditihsion  and  character 

*  Caswall's  America,  p.  197. 

■)•  J.  S.  Buckingham's  America,  vol.  ii.  p.  3G6. 


260  AMEPvICAN    CHURCH. 

of  education,  falls  greatly  lower  than  this  level ;  whilst  in 
Ohio  and  some  of  the  newer  north-west  states,  lands  for 
the  support  of  education  have  been  set  aside  from  their 
first  settlement ;  and  these  bid  fair,  ere  long,  to  rival  the 
"  empire"*  state.  But  with  all  this  wide  spread  of  educa- 
tion, it  nowhere  reaches  to  the  high  measure  of  the  Old 
World.  For  this  there  is  as  yet  neither  provision  nor  de- 
mand. This  must  be  more  or  less  the  case  where  there 
are  no  classes  born  to  hereditary  wealth ;  and  this  tendency 
is  increased  by  the  peculiarities  of  American  character, 
which  is  eminently  busy  and  practical ;  urging  men  to  ac- 
quire money,  immediate  influence,  and  direct  results  in  all 
things.  Even  childhood  is  moulded  by  these  feelings. 
"Boys  are  men  before  they  are  loosed  from  their  leading- 
strings.  They  are  educated  in  the  belief  that  every  man 
must  be  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  There  is,  to  be 
sure,  a  limited  class  who  look  forward  to  the  decease  of 
parents  as  the  commencement  of  an  era  in  which  they  will 
have  no  duty  to  do  but  to  enjoy  the  property  bequeatlied 
to  them  ;  but,  as  a  class,  it  is  too  small  to  be  considered  in 
the  estimate  of  national  character.  The  great  majority 
look  forward  to  manhood  as  the  time  to  act,  and  anticipate 
it  by  juvenile  participation  in  the  events  of  busy  life.  Boys 
argue  upon  polemics,  political  economy,  party  politics, 
the  mysteries  of  trade,  the  destinies  of  nations.  Dreams 
of  ambition  or  of  wealth  nerve  the  arm  which  drives  the 
hoop.  Toys  are  stock  in  trade  ;  barter  is  fallen  into  by 
instinct." 

Tliis  is  an  American  estimatef  of  the  character  of  boy- 
hood there  :  and  with  this  the  highest  measure  of  educa- 
tion is  manifestly  incompatible.  It  is  valued  only  as  it 
fits  men  to  act  successfully  their  immediate  part  in  the 
busy  scene  before  them.  Whatever  rises  above  this  level 
is  looked  at  rather  with  suspicion  than  good  will.  Like 
great  wealth  or  distinctions  of  rank,  it  cannot  harmonize 
entirely  with  repubhcan  institutions.  It  is  the  assertion 
of  superiority.      "  The  multitude  in  this  country,"  says  an 

*  An  American  name  for  New-York. 

t  Extracted  by  J.  S.  Buckingham,  vol.  i.  p.  170,  from  a  leading 
N"ew-York  journal. 


EDUCATION.  261 

address  delivered  in  an  eastern  state  to  a  collegiate  institu- 
tion,* "so  far  from  favoring  and  honoring  high  learning 
and  science,  is  rather  prone  to  suspect  and  disUke   it.     It 
feareth  that  genius  savoreth  of  aristocracy  !     Besides,  the 
multitude  calleth  itself  a  'practical  man.     It  asketh,  what 
is  the  use  ?     It  seeth  no  use  but  in  that  which  leads  to 
money  or  the  material  ends  of  life.     It  hath  no  opinion  of 
having  dreamers  and  drones  in  society.     It  believeth,  in- 
deed, in  railroads ;  it  thinketh  well  of  steam  ;  and  owneth 
that  the  new  art  of  bleaching  by  chlorine  is  a  prodigious 
improvement :  but  it   laughs   at  the  profound  researches 
into  the  laws  of  nature,  out  of  which  those  very  inventions 
grew  ;  and  with  still  greater  scorn  it  laughs  at  the  votaries 
of  the  more   spiritual  forms  of  truth  and  beauty,  Avhich 
have  no  application  to  the  palpable  uses  of  life.     Then, 
again,  the  iutluence  of  our  reading  public  is  not  favorable 
to  high  letters.      It  demands,  it  pays  for  and  respects,  al- 
most exclusively,  a  lower  style  ot"  production ;  and  hence  a 
natural  influence  to  discourage  higher  labors," 

In  such  a  state  of  feeling  the  best  hope  was  in  the  in- 
stitution of  theological  seminaries  of  a  high  caste.  Though 
the  clergy  had  too  commonly  been  engrossed  by  the  inces- 
sant claims  of  pastoral  duty,  yet  amongst  them  tliere  was 
the  best  chance  of  forming  a  set  of  thoughtful,  higlily 
cultivated  minds  :  and  if  once  the  standard  were  raised 
anywhere,  discontent  with  the  general  poverty  of  attain- 
ments would  soon  be  widely  felt.  To  these  motives  for 
exertion  must  be  added  the  absolute  dellciency  of  theologi- 
cal instruction.  Hobart  himself  was  trained  in  a  Presby- 
terian college  :  and  wliilc  such  a  course  of  education  might 
endanger  the  principles  of  Aveaker  minds,  it  certainly  de- 
prived the  stronger  of  the  blessing  of  strict  theological  in- 
struction. To  this  want,  therefore,  his  attention  was  early 
called :  he  longed  to  see  such  institutions  founded ;  but  his 
first  care  was,  that  their  principles  should  be  so  firmly 
fixed  as  to  preserve  them  from  the  passing  influence  of  the 
day.  They  were  to  impart  a  character  ;  not  to  adopt  that 
of  others.  For  otherwse  they  would  fail  of  their  highest 
purpose,  and  instead  of  teaching  the  student 

*  Quoted  in  Ciiswall's  American  Church. 


262  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

"  How  patiently  the  yoke  of  thought  to  bear, 
Subtly  to  guide  its  finest  threads  along."* 

they  would  soon  degenerate,  under  another  name,  into  the 
common  run  of  ordinary  schools.  From  fear  of  this,  he 
opposed,  at  the  cost  of  much  misrepresentation,  the  earliest 
proposals  for  founding  a  general  theological  seminary ; 
though  none  felt  more  strongly  the  need  of  such  an  institu- 
tion, or  labored  more  diligently  in  its  formation,  when  the 
temper  of  the  Church  seemed  to  justify  the  undertaking. 

In  the  convention  of  1817  this  scheme  was  adopted  ; 
and  in  that  of  1820,  and  in  one  specially  held  in  1821,  it 
received  its  perfect  form.     The  general  seminary  was  es- 
tablished in  New-York ;  it  was  placed   under  the   control 
of  the  whole  Church,  her  bishops  being  officially  trustees, 
in  common  with  a  body  elected  by  the  several  states  from 
residents  within  their  own   borders.      Each   state  chooses 
one  trustee,  and  one  more  for   every  eight  of  its   clergy; 
and,  besides  these,  it  may  elect  one  trustee  for  every  two 
thousand  dollars  it  contributes  to  the  common  fund,  with 
a  proviso  that  when  one  state  already  possesses  five  such 
trustees,  its  further  contributions  must  amount  to  10,000 
dollars   for   an   additional   trustee.     Thus    founded,    "tlje 
General  Theological  Seminary"  soon  struck  its  roots  firmly 
in   the   soil.     In  1836   eighty-six   students  were   upon  its 
books,  at  an  annual  expense  of  21/.  eachf     It  has  already 
greatly  raised  the  standard  oi  clerical  attainments,  and  its 
future  influence  may  be  iTiore  momentous  still.     Already 
it  has  gathered  to  itself  various  important   endowments, 
and  gives  promise  of  assuming  and  maintaining  something 
of  that  high  character  which  for   centuries   the   mother- 
country  has  identified  with  the  very  names  of  her  "  two 
famous  universities."     In  1841,  though  still  greatly  need- 
ing further  exertions,  it  possessed  twelve  scholarships,  en- 
dowed with  sums  varying  from  450Z.  to  660/.,  and  pro- 
fessorships, for  Avhich  endowments  of  4,500/.  and  5,625/. 
had  been  obtained.:!:     It  had  received  since  its  foundation, 

*  Wordsworth's  Ecclesiastical  Sketches. 

f  Caswall's  America,  p.  155. 

X  Appendix  A.  to  Report  of  Convention  of  1841. 


DEATH   OP   BISHOP   HOBART.  263 

by  voluntary  contributions,  the  sum  of  228,420  dollars,  or 
about  50,7101.  ;  its  library  at  the  close  of  1837  numbered 
6011,  and  in  1843,  7500  volumes;  and,  besides  the  addi- 
tions made  by  benefactors,  was  increasing  yearly  from  the 
interest  of  6000  dollars  held  as  a  permanent  investment 
for  its  benefit. 

It  was  mainly  to  Bishop  Hobart  that  this  institution,  so 
full  of  promise  for  America,  owed  its  origin  ;  but  he  scarce- 
ly lived  to  sQe  it  in  active  operation.  The  convention  of 
October  1829  filled  up  the  requisite  number  of  trustees, 
and  in  the  September  of  the  following  year  he  was  taken 
to  his  rest.  He  died  at  his  work  at  Auburn,  whilst  on  the 
visitation  of  the  western  district  of  his  diocese.  Worn  out 
by  the  combined  labors  of  a  pressing  pastoral  charge  and 
an  exhaustmg  bishopric,  he  sunk  upon  the  threshold  of  his 
5Gth  year.  His  memory  will  long  endure  in  the  grateful 
remembrance  of  the  churchmen  of  the  west.  He  left  an 
impression  of  his  well-ordered  zeal  deeply  traced  upon  many 
minds  and  many  institutions  round  him.  This  he  had  the 
joy  of  witnessing  before  his  dismissal.  He  was  the  centre 
to  which  men  of  active  and  high-principled  exertion  natu- 
rally turned.  He  lived  long  enough  to  survive  the  clamor 
which  broke  in  so  rudely  upon  his  opening  episcopate  ;  and 
whilst  he  never  receded  from  a  principle,  so  greatly  did  his 
straightforward  honesty  of  character  win  on  all  men,  that 
in  a  contested  election  of  governor  of  his  own  state,  it  was 
commonly  asserted,  "  that  were  Bishop  Hobart  to  stand, 
he  would  be  the  only  candidate  who  would  carry  the  vote 
of  both  parties."* 

In  the  next  convention  (Oct.  1832)  Bishop  B.  T.  On- 
derdonk,  who  had  been  consecrated  two  months  after 
Bishop  Hobart's  death,  took  his  place  in  the  general  coun- 
cil of  the  Church.  The  episcopate  was  greatly  strengthen- 
ed since  the  time  when  the  consecration  of  Dr.  Hobart  was 
a  matter  of  doubtful  possibility.  In  1823  North  Carolina 
was  placed  under  the  care  of  Bishop  Ravenscroft.  He  ad- 
ministered that  diocese  in  Hobart's  spirit.  "  The  situation 
of  this  southern  country,"  he  tells  the  Bishop  of  New- York, 

*  M'Vickar,  p.  485. 


264  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

"  surrendered  for  tlie  last  forty  or  eighty  years  to  the  ex- 
clusive influence  of  dissenters,  left  me  no  alternative,   but 
either  to  increase  that  influence  by  adopting  half-way  mea- 
sures, or  by  a  decided  course  to  call  into  action  what  was 
left  of  predilection  for  her,    and  to   rally  her   real  friends 
around  her."*     There  were  not  wanting  those   who  pre- 
dicted fliilure  from  these  eflbrts,  which   to  them   seemed 
premature.     But  the  conclusion,  says  the  bishop,  justified 
his  expectations.     His  course  was  far  shorter  than  that  of 
his  friend  and  brother  in  authority.     Since  the  convention 
of  1829  he,  too,  had   been  gathered  in  amongst  the  per- 
fected ;  and  in  September  1831,  Dr.  L.  S.  Ives  was  conse- 
crated in  his  room.      Otliers  too  had  been   added  to  the 
apostolic  college.     Dr.  Meade,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been 
appointed  assistant-bishop  of  Virginia ;  Dr.  Stone,*  after  a 
two-years'  vacancy,  occupied  the  place  of  the  late  Bishop 
Kemp  of  Maryland  ;  whilst  three  years  before,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, Dr.  H.  U.  Onderdonk  had  been  associated  with  the 
aged  Bishop  White.      His   election  had  allayed   a  strife 
which  threatened  to  molest  the  last  years  of  the  mild   pa- 
triarch of  the  Western  Church,  and   the  assistant-bishop 
strengthened  with  zeal  and  judgment  his  venerable  princi- 
pal.     Though  now  bearing  the  burden  of  eighty-four  win- 
ters. Bishop  White  was  still   a  constant  attendant  at  the 
meeting  of  convention,  and   imparted   to   its  councils  the 
wisdom   and   the   meekness  of  his  old  experience.      These 
were  called  for  at  this  time  by  difliculties  which  had  arisen 
in  the  state  of  Ohio.     Dr.  Philander  Chase,  w^hom  we  have 
followed  through  his  missionary  life  to  his  consecration  as 
its  bishop  and  the  founder  of  Kenyon  College,  now  desired, 
under  trying  circumstances,  to  resign  his   bishopric.      This 
had  been  made  inseparable  from   the  headship  of  the  col- 
lege, and  between  himself  and  its  professors  irreconcilable 
variance  had  arisen.     After  long  debates,  the  convention  al- 
lowed his  resignation,  and  proceeded  to  act  on  the  choice  of 
a  successor,  which  his  diocese  had  made.      On  the  31st  of 
October,  forty-six  years  (within  two  days)  from  the  time  of 
his  embarking  from  the  same  city  to  receive   consecration 

*  Letter  to  Bishop  Hobart, — Dr.  Bonian's  Life,  p.  366. 
f  Consecrated  Oct.  1830. 


READMISSION   OF    BISHOP    CHASE.  265 

from  the  English  archbishop,  Bishop  White  laid  his  aged 
hands  upon  the  heads  of  four  more  who  were  severed  to 
bear  onwai-d  their  Master's  witness.  Dr.  M'llvaine  was 
consecrated  Bisshop  of  Ohio  ;  Dr.  John  H.  Hopkins  of  Ver- 
mont, now  parted  from  the  eastern  diocese  ;  Dr.  B.  B. 
Smith  of  Kentucky,  which  had  been  organised  three  years 
before  ;  and  Dr.  G.  W.  Doane  of  the  old  diocese  of  New- 
Jersey.  "  What  a  wonderful  change,"*  says  the  aged 
bishop,  "  had  he  lived  to  witness  in  reference  to  American 
episcopacy  ;"  he  Avho  now  thus  peacefully  filled  up  the 
vacant  seats  of  rule,  "  remembered  the  ante-revolutionary 
times,  when  the  press  profusely  emitted  pamphlet  and 
newspaper  disquisitions  on  the  question,  whether  an  Ame- 
rioan  bishop  was  to  be  endured,  and  when  threats  were 
thrown  out,  of  throwing  such  a  person,  if  sent,  into  the 
river." 

Still  more  important  matters  marked  the  next  assem- 
bly of  convention.  It  met  in  1835  at  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  would  have  been  marked  amongst  the  synods  of 
that  Church,  if  by  nothing  else,  yet  by  being  the  last  at 
which  the  aged  Bishop  White  was  present.  But  besides 
this,  enduring  consequences  resulted  from  its  sittings. 
These  appropriately  opened  with  the  readmission  of  Dr. 
Philander  Chase  to  the  upper  house  as  Bishop  of  Illinois, 
wliich  under  his  care  had  been  organised  as  a  diocese  since 
the  meeting  of  the  last  convention.  During  that  interval 
he  had  been  laboring  as  an  indefatigable  missionary  in 
Michigan,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  :  and  now  "  a  veteran 
bishop,  a  soldier  of  the  cross,  whom  hardships  never  have 
di.scouraged,  whom  no  difficulties  seem  to  daunt,  and  who 
entered  upon  his  new  campaign  with  all  the  chivalry  of 
thirty-five,  was  cordially  welcomed  to  his  seat  amongst  the 
counsellors  of  the  Church. '"f 

Early  in  the  session  a  committee  was  appointed  to  take 
into  consideration  such  an  alteration  of  the  constitution  as 
should  allow  of  the  division  of  any  diocese  which  had  out- 
grown the  powers  of  one  bishop.  "  The  prosperous  and 
powerful  diocase  of  New- York"  gave  occasion  for  this  sug- 

*  Notes  to  page  63  of  Bishop  White's  Memorial,  p.  266. 
|-  Appendix  to  "  ilissionarv  Bisliop,"  p.  37. 
12 


266  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

gestion  ;  and  the  canon  adopted  in  committee  has  since 
become  a  part  of  the  constitution,  and  under  it  New- York 
was  parted  into  the  eastern  and  western  diocese.  This 
was  scarcely  arranged,  when  the  whole  missionary  opera- 
tions of  the  Church  were  brought  into  discussion.  Since 
the  year  1820  these  had  come  under  the  consideration  of 
convention  ;  before  that  time  they  had  been  left  to  the 
voluntai-y  zeal  of  self-constituted  societies  ;  but  in  that 
year  "  a  board  of  missions"  was  authoritatively  organised. 
The  constitution  then  formed  was  not,  indeed,  long  retain- 
ed. It  was  hastily  adopted  on  the  last  day  of  the  sitting 
of  convention,  and  was  quickly  found  to  be  as  inconvenient 
in  practice  as  it  was  midoubtedly  unsound  in  principle, 
since  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  were  scarcely  recognized, 
in  this  their  especial  function.  In  1823,  1829,  and  1832, 
it  came  again  under  review,  until  in  1835  it  received  its 
last  alterations  and  permanent  organisation. 

The  importance  of  this  matter  requires  a  more  detailed 
relation  of  its  progress,  and  this  shall  be  mainly  given  in 
the  words  of  tliose  who  conducted  it,  because  these  will 
bring  more  vividly  before  us  the  views  and  feelings  wdiich 
guided  the  framers  of  this  new  arrangement. 

The  moral  and  religious  state  of  the  vast  population 
which  was  springing  up  along  the  great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  had  grown  into  a  matter  of  political  as  well  as 
spiritual  moment.  The  attention  of  the  Church  was  loudly 
called  to  its  condition.  In  a  sermon  preached  at  Brooklyn,* 
the  suburbs  of  New- York,  in  the  year  1835,  and  published 
at  the  request  of  those  who  heard  it,  the  preacher  asks,t 
"  Can  any  Christian  look  without  concern  upon  the  move- 
ments at  the  west — the  rush  of  foreign  population,  the 
rapid  growth  of  cities  and  villages,  and  the  astonishing  rise 
in  the  value  of  land — M'ithout  inquiring  who  is  taking 
possession  of  this  finest  part  of  our  country  ?  What  are 
the  habits,  the  intelligence,  and  the  religion  of  the  people  ? 
Have  they  our  sacred  institutions  ?  Are  they  an  educated 
people  ?  Are  they  a  religious  people  ?  Will  they  carry 
with  them  the  '  ark  of  the  covenant'  into  the  wilderness  ? 

*  By  Dr.  Benjamin  C.  Cutler.  t  Sermon,  p.  9. 


PROSPECTS   OF   THE   WEST.  267 

Suppose,  in  answer  to  these  questions,  it  should  be  told  you, 
that  they  were  coming  to  this  country  without  the  means 
of  education  or  religious  instruction,  or  if  they  have  the  lat- 
ter, so  closely  connected  with  a  foreign  political  power,  and 
having  so  httle  relation  to  our  modes  of  thinking  and  feel- 
ing, that  to  the  most  charitable  they  promise  little  or  no 
aid  in  the  great  work  of  enlightening  the  mind,  and  to 
others  they  are  the  most  alarmmg  accompaniement  of  the 
emigration — could  you  sit  quiet  and  at  ease  ? 

"  And  while  you  proudly  traversed  with  your  eye  the 
majestic  map,  or  beheld  the  swelling  columns  of  your  nu- 
merical strength  ;  while  the  rivers  of  the  west  are  rolling 
down  their  rich  harvests,  and  you  by  them  are  enabled  to 
build  stately  habitations  and  to  dwell  in  them, — could  you 
forbear  to  think  of  the  future  ?  The  more  you  magnify 
the  wealth  and  population  of  the  west,  unless  that  popula- 
tion is  enlightened  and  religious,  the  more  should  your  fears 
be  magnified. 

"  Cities  and  villages,  governments  and  maxims  of  go- 
vernment, opinions,  principles,  and  habits,  are  all  now 
struggling  for  existence  amid  that  peculiarly  selected,  vig- 
orous, and  independent  population.  And  while  the  com- 
parative poverty  of  the  eastern  part  of  our  national  do- 
main, and  the  impassable  barrier  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  is 
hemming  in  and  limiting  for  ever  the  influence  of  the 
eastern  and  Atlantic  states,  the  horizon  towards  the  west 
is  illimitable. 

"  States  and  nations  may  in  future  times  date  their 
origin  back  to  the  millions  which  have  now  taken  posses- 
sion of  that  most  fertile  part  of  the  American  continent. 
Nor  is  this  all.  While  the  population  is  increasing  and  roll- 
ing westward,  that  which  is  now  denominated  the  east  will 
be  compelled  into  entire  subjection  to  its  own  offspring. 
The  time  cannot  be  far  distant  when,  contrary  to  the 
course  of  heaven,  light  and  authority  will  proceed  from 
west  to  east.*'  But  oh,  will  it  be  the  pure  light  of  heaven, 
or  the  lurid  fires  of  superstition,  cruelty,  and  crime  ? 

*  One  state  at  the  west  now  has  more  votes  and  more  voices  on 
the  floor  of  conoress  than  four  of  the  New-England  states. 


2(39  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

"  Upon  US  most  certainly  devolves  the  duty  of  directing 
the  destiny  of  the  west,  and  that  is  the  destiny  of  both  east 
and  west.  .   .   .   There  is  now  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the 

American  people (much  is  needed)  to  retain  our 

prosperity,  our  liberty,  and  our  religion On  two  or 

three  important  places  has  our  Church  commenced  this 
work.  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  at  the  head  of  the  great  val- 
ley, have  now  in  the  centre  of  each  an  institution  for  ex- 
tending the  influence  of  rehgion  and  learning.  Further  on, 
Tennessee  and  Illinois  are  organising  for  this  purpose  ;  Mis- 
souri and  the  fertile  states  at  the  south  through  which  the 
riches  of  the  west  are  passing,  will  not  be  long  unoccupied. 
....  Whether  we  shall  push  our  own  principles  of  liber- 
ty and  religion  on  to  the  great  battle-ground,  and  effectually 
establish  them  against  all  opposition,  or  whether  we  shall 
there  be  met  and  resisted,  and  crowded  back  to  the  moun- 
tains and  rocks,  where  the  first  great  battles  of  our  inde- 
pendence were  fought,  upon  the  present  generation  of  Ame- 
rican Christians  or  upon  that  which  shall  immediately 
succeed  them,  it  must  under  God  depend." 

Under  such  a  sense  of  responsibility  as  regarded  the 
work  of  domestic  missions  did  the  Church  engage  in  re- 
constructing her  missionary  constitution.  A  few  extracts 
from  the  sermon  preached  by  Dr.  Doane,  the  bishop  of 
New  Jersey,  at  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Kemper,  on  his 
election  by  this  convention  as  first  missionary  bishop,  will 
show  the  ground  taken  and  the  principles  affirmed  through- 
out this  whole  institution.  They  differ  widely  from  that 
earlier  temper  which  depressed  as  low  as  possible  the  of- 
fice and  authority  of  bishops,  which  restrained  the  Church 
from  their  election,  and  looked  upon  them  with  a  watchful 
jealousy.  In  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  is  a  mission- 
ary bishop  ?"  he  observes  :  "  As  the  Church  obeying  the 
mandate  of  her  divine  Head  sends  presbyters  and  deacons 
'  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  ;'  so  may  she,  and  so  should  she — emulating  that 
divine  compassion  which  yearned  over  the  fainting  multi- 
tudes that  roamed  untended  and  unied  amongst  the  moun- 
tains of  Judaea — send  bishops  to  them,  to  seek  the  wan- 
dering flocks,  to  lead  thera  to  the   sacred   fold,  to  appoint 


THE    MISSIONARY    BISHOP.  269 

them  under-shepherds,  to  oversee  and  govern  them  with 
due  authority  and  godly  discipline,  and  '  warning  every 
man  and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom,'  to  do  all  that 
in  them  lies  '  to  present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus.' 
And  this  is  what  is  meant  by  a  missionary  bishop :  a  bi- 
shop sent  forth  by  the  Church,  not  sought  for  of  the 
Church  ;  going  before  to  organise  the  Church,  not  waiting 
till  the  Church  has  been  partially  organised  ;  a  leader,  not 
a  follower,  in  the  march  of  the  Redeemer's  conquering  and 
triumphant  Gospel ;  sustained  by  their  alms  whom  God 
has  blessed  both  with  the  power  and  will  to  ofier  to  Him 
of  their  substance,  for  their  benefit  who  are  not  blessed 
with  b.ith  or  either  of  them  ;  sent  by  the  Church,  even  as 
the  Church  is  sent  by  Christ,  not  to  such  only  as  have 
knowledge  of  His  truth  and  desire  Him  for  their  King,  but 
to  the  ignorant  and  rebellious,  to  them  who  know  not  of 
His  name,  or  will  not  have  Him  to  reign  over  them." 

He  then  goes  onto  show  from  holy  Scripture  that  "  the 
office  of  apostle  or — the  inspiration  and  the  power  of  mir- 
acles ceasing  with  the  necessity  for  them — of  missionary 
bishop  was  confirmed  by  Jesus  Christ  Himself  with  perpe- 
tuity of  succession  to  the  end  of  time  ;''  and  then  points 
out  "  why  the  times  especially  require  such  efforts."  Hav- 
ing shown  the  needs  and  openings  of  heathen  lands,  he 
points  their  attention  to  their  own.  "Do  we  look  home- 
ward ?  Through  the  regions  of  our  own  unbounded  west 
see  how  the  stream  of  life  sets  onward.  Behold,  in  arts, 
in  wealth,  in  power,  a  progress  such  as  earth  has  never 
seen,  outrunning  even  fancy's  wildest  dreams  ;  but  with  no 
provision  that  at  all  keeps  pace  with  it  for  the  securing  of 
man's  nobler  and  immortal  interests.  Observe  with  what 
a  keen  and  shrewd  regard  the  Church  of  Rome  has  marked 
that  region  for  her  own,  and  with  what  steadiness  of  pur- 
pose she  pursues  her  aim,  and  seeks  to  lay  the  deep  foun- 
dations of  a  power  which  is  to  grow  as  it  grows,  and  to 
strengthen  as  it  gathers  strength."  Further  on  he  reminds 
them  where  they  are  to  labor.  "  The  field  is  the  whole 
WORLD.  To  every  soul  of  man  in  every  part  of  it  the  Gos- 
pel is  to  be  preached  ;  everywhere  the  Gospel  is  to  be 
preached,  by,  through,  and  in  the  Church.     To  bishops,  as 


270  AMERICAN    CHITRCH. 

the  successors  of  the  Apostles,  the  promise  of  the  Lord  was 
given  to  be  with  His  Church  '  alway  to  the  end  of  the 
world  ;'  upon  bishops,  as  successors  of  the  Apostles, 
the  perpetuation  of  the  Christian  ministry  depends ; 
to  bishops,  as  successors  of  the  Apostles,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Chvirch,  the  preaching  of  the  word,  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  the  care  of  souls,  has  been 
entrusted.  Without  bishops,  as  successors  of  the  Apostles, 
there  is  no  warrant,  and  for  fifteen  hundred  years  from 
Christ  there  was  no  precedent,  for  the  establishment  or 
the  extension  of  the  Church.  Possessing  these  things,  act 
accordingly.  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give.  Open 
your  eyes  to  the  wants,  open  your  ears  to  the  cry,  open 
your  hands  for  the  relief,  of  a  perishing  world .  Send  the 
Gospel,  send  it  as  you  received  it,  in  tJie  Cliurch ;  send 
out  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  build  the  Church — to  every 
portion  of  your  own  broad  land — to  every  stronghold  of  the 
prince  of  hell,  to  every  den  and  nook  and  lurking-place  of 
heathendom — a  missionary  bishop." 

Further,  he  enforces  on  them  the  discharge  of  this  their 
duty  by  the  consideration  of  the  very  "genius  and  order  of 
the  Church."  "It  is  of  the  nature  of  a  trust,  that  there 
be  always  given  with  it  authority  and  power  for  the  due 
execution  of  all  its  proper  uses.  It  is  still  farther  of  the 
nature  of  a  tru.st,  that  on  its  acceptance  there  devolves  on 
the  trustee  the  bounden  duty  to  secure  as  much  as  in  him 
lies  its  full  and  faithful  execution.  Now  the  Gospel  is 
God's  gift  in  trust  for  the  conversion  and  salvation  of  lost 
man.  The  Church  is  his  trustee.  ...  To  discharge  the 
duties  of  a  continual  trust,  the  trustee  of  necessity  must 
have  continuance.  The  Church  is  by  divine  appointment 
perpetual  hij  succession  in  tlie  highest  order  of  her  minis- 
try. '  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in 
earth;'*  '  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  so  send  I  you  ;'t 
'  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world. '$  ....  Hence  of  necessity  flow  out  resulting  trusts, 
immense  in  value  and  of  infinite  responsibility.      She  is  to 

be  a  missionary  Church Her  bishops  are  Apostles, 

each  in  his  proper  sphere  sent  out  to  '  feed  the  Church  of 

*  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  18.     f  St.  John  xx.  21.     %  St-  Matt,  xxviii.  20. 


I 


THE    MISSIONARY    BISHOP.  271 

God  ;'  jMntly  and  in  agreement  with  established  principles 
of  order  in  the  Church,  they  have  the  power  which  Christ 
imparted  to  the  twelve — 'As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  so 
send  I  you' — to  send  Apostles  in  His  name.  Her  ministers 
are  all  evangelists,  to  go  wherever  God  shall  caU  them 
through  His  Church  to  bear  the  blessed  tidings  of  salvation, 
through  the  blood  of  Jesus,  for  a  ruined  world.  Her  mem- 
ber?', baptised  into  the  death  of  Jesus,  and  so  purchased  by 
His  blood,  are  missionai-ies  aU  in  spirit  or  intent,  to  go,  or 
— if  themselves  go  not — to  see  that  others  go,  and  to  con- 
tribute faitlifully  and  freely  of  the  ability  which  God  shall 
give  them  to  sustain  them  whiie  they  go  and  '  preach  the 
Gospel  unto  every  creature.'  Such,  as  the  Scripture 
teaches,  is  the  original,  the  permanent,  the  immutable 
constitution  of  the  Christian  Church ;  such,  by  the  solemn, 
act  of  its  highest  legislative  council,  is  declared  to  be  the 
constitution  of  this  Church.  Baptised  into  her  in  the  name 
of  the  eternal  Three  m  One,  you  become  a  party  to  the  trust 
with  which  she  is  honored  by  her  heavenly  Head  to  preach 
the  everlasting  Gospel.  It  is  a  trust  which  no  man  who 
has  once  assumed  can  put  off;  for  his  baptisimal  vow  is 
registered  in  heaven,  and  will  go  with  him  in  its  conse- 
quences of  unmingled  bliss  or  woe  throughout  eternity." 

For  the  discharge  of  this  trust  by  her  children,  he  goes 
on  to  show  them  that  the  Church,  after  her  Lord's  exam- 
ple, had  now  made  a  fit  provision.  "It  is  recorded  of  the 
Holy  Saviour,  as  He  went  out  amongst  the  cities  and  vil- 
lages of  Judasa  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom,  that 
when  He  saw  the  multitudes  He  was  moved  with  compas- 
sion on  them,  because  they  fainted  and  were  scattered 
abroad  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd.  'Then  saith  He 
unto  His  disciples,  the  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the 
laborers  are  few  ;  pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest, ^hat  he  wdl  send  forth  laborers  into  liis  harvest'.  .  .  . 
Behold,  brethren,  in  the  ser^'^ce  which  assembles  us  this 
day,  the  result  of  God's  especial  blessing  on  the  Church's 
holy  emulation  of  her  Savior's  love.  Like  Him  and  on  the 
pathway  which  His  blessed  footsteps  traced  with  tears  and 
blood,  the  Church  has  gone  about  amongst  the  villages  and 
and  cities  of  this  broad  and  sinful  land.     Everywhere  has 


272  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

she  found  ignorant  to  instruct,  mourners  to  comfort,  rebels 
to  reclaim,  sinners  to  save ;  but  the  west,  the  vast  distant 
and  unsettled  west,  has  fixed  her  eye  and  agonised  her 
heart.  There,  indeed,  has  she  saved  great  multitudes 
that  fainted  with  the  burden  of  the  weary  way,  and  wan- 
dered cheerless  and  imcared  for  as  '  sheep  that  have  no 
shepherd.'  There,  indeed,  has  she  beheld  the  wily  serpent 
and  the  prowling  wolf,  and  regretted  with  bitter  tears  that 
she  could  do  no  more  to  guard  her  Savior's  lambs.  .  .  . 
Encouraged  by  the  divine  assurance,  she  betook  herself  to 
prayer  .  .  .  she  supplicated  the  gracious  Lord  of  that  abun- 
dant harvest,  that  he  would  'send  forth  laborers  into  His 
harvest.'  He  graciously  inclined  His  ear  and  heard  her 
prayer He  was  present  by  His  divine  and  Holy  Spi- 
rit in  the  council  of  His  Church,  as  He  had  been  in  the 
councils  of  the  Apostles.  He  harmonized  all  hearts.  He 
suggested  wisdom,  He  imparted  courage.  He  communicated 
thoughts ;  above  all.  He  sent  His  Holy  Ghost,  and  poured 
into  their  hearts  '  that  most  excellent  gift  of  charity,  the 
very  bond  of  peace  and  of  all  virtues,'  and  so  enabled  them 
as  but  one  man  to  contrive,  digest,  mature,  propose,  accom- 
plish, and  carry  into  practice  the  great  missionary  Avork, 
that  here,  this  day,  ....  we  have  come  up  before  His 
altar,  to  present  the  first  fruit  of  the  Saviour's  answer  to 
His  Church's  prayer  for  her  lost  sheep  in  the  vast  west — 
her  first — God  grant  that  it  need  not  long  be  said — her 
only  missionary  bishop."* 

Such  were  the  principles  on  which  the  new  missionary 
constitution  of  the  American  Church  was  founded  ;  and 
they  are  consistently  maintained  throughout  all  its  details. 
The  report  of  the  committee  to  which  its  organization  was 
entrusted,  and  who  agreed  "  as  one  man"  in  their  conclu- 
sions, was  thus  explained  by  their  chairman.  Bishop  Doane 
(of  New  Jersey)  to  the  convention.     "  He  showedf  that  by 

*  Bisliop  Doane's  Sermon. 

f  Appendix  to  a  sermon  preached  at  the  consecration  of  the 
Right.  Rev.  Jackson  Kemper,  D.D.,  Missionary  Bishop  for  Missouri 
and  Indiana,  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  Phihidelphia,  by  G.  W.  Doane, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  tlie  diocese  of  New  Jersey,  Sept.  25,  1835.  The 
italics,  &c.,  in  the  text,  are  copied  from  the  original. 


NEW    ATTITCDK    OF    THE    CHURCH.  273 

the  original  constitution  of  Christ,  the  Church,  as  the 
Church,  was  the  one  <rreat  missionarj^  society  ;  and  the 
Apostles  and  the  BishojJS  their  successors.  His  j^f^f- 
pettcal  trustees  ;  and  that  this  could  not  and  should  never 
be  divided  or  deputed.  The  duty,  he  maintained,  to  sup- 
port the  Church  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  every  creature, 
was  one  which  passed  on  every  Christian  hij  the  terms  of 
his  baptismal  vote,  and  from  which  he  could  never  be  ab- 
solved. The  general  convention  he  claimed  to  be  the  duly 
constituted  representative  of  the  Church ;  and  pointed  out 
its  admirable  combination  of  all  that  was  necessary  to  se- 
cure, on  the  one  hand,  the  confidence  of  the  whole  Church, 
and,  on  the  other,  the  most  concentrated  and  intense  effici- 
ency. He  then  explained  the  constitution  of  the  board  of 
missions,  the  permanent  agent  of  the  Church  in  this  be- 
half; .  .  .  and  in  subordination  to  it  the  two  c.reciftive  com- 
mitees  for  the  two  departments,  foreign  and  domestic,  of 
the  one  great  fold.  .  .  Each  having  its  secretary  and  age?it, 
some  strong  and  faithful  man,  embuod  .  .  .  with  the  mis- 
sionary spirit,  the  indcx-f/igcr,  as  it  were,  of  the  com- 
mittee. .  .  .  For  the  effectual  organization  of  the  body  in 
the  holy  work  to  which  the  Saviour  calls  them,  he  indicated 
the  parochial  relation  as  the  most  important  of  all  bonds, 
calling  on  every  clergyman,  as  the  agent  of  the  board,  for 
Jesus'  sake  to  use  his  utmost  efforts  in  instructing  first, 
and  then  interesting  his  people,  then  in  engaging  their 
free-will  offering  of  themselves  in  its  support,  upon  the 
apostolic  plan  of  systematic  cluirity,  laying  up  in  store  on. 
every  Lord's  day  as  God  should  prosper  them  ;  and  when 
the  gathering  was  made,  transmitting  to  the  treasury  of 
the  Church  the  consecrated  alms." 

This  report  being  received  by  the  convention,  a  "  con- 
stitution" in  accordance  with  it  was  prepared,  and  adopted 
with  remarkable  unanimity.  Nothing  could  show  more 
clearly  the  general  change  of  feeling  in  the  body  than  the 
unanimous  adoption  by  clergymen  and  laity  of  this  report. 
Instead  of  doubtfully  and  timidly  maintainhig  Episcopacy, 
amply  contented  with  a  cold  toleration  from  others,  and 
deeming  apology  for  her  peculiarities  continually  needful, 
the  Church  now  declared  herself  to  be  indeed  Christ's 
12*' 


274  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

messenger,  resolved  in  His  strength  to  bear  his  message. 
Instead  of  watching  jealously  the  bishop's  authority,  and 
restraining  it  under  the  merely  human  machinery  of  com- 
mittees and  the  like,  she  boldly  avowed  that  in  it  was  the 
secret  of  administrative  strength,  of  vigor  combined  with 
unity,  as  well  as  the  principle  of  ministerial  reproduction, 
and  therein  the  great  external  instrument  for  the  perpetu- 
ity of  her  own  witness.  This  new  and  vigorous  conduct 
was  the  fruit  of  God's  blessing  upon  their  labors  who  lived 
not  to  see  on  this  earth  their  reward.  It  was  that  at 
which  Bishop  Hobart  had  aimed  when,  as  by  a  trumpet's 
voice,  he  had  roused  her  slumbering  watchmen.  It  tilled 
with  humble  joy  the  hearts  of  those  who  witnessed  it. 
"For  ourselves,"  says  an  American  publication*  of  the 
day,  "  we  consider  it  a  measure  of  iar  greater  promise  to 
the  Church  of  Christ  than  any  which  in  our  day  has  been 
effected.  In  its  adoption  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  United  States  has  placed  herself  on  primitive  ground. 
She  stands  as  a  Church  in  the  very  attitude  in  which  the 
apostolic  Church  at  Jerusalem,  when  the  day  of  Pentecost 
had  brought  the  Holy  Spirit  down  to  guide  and  bless  it, 
set  out  to  bear  the  Gospel  of  its  heavenly  Head  to  every 
soul  of  man  in  every  land.  As  the  Church  she  undertakes, 
and  before  God  binds  herself  to  sustain  the  injunction  of 
her  Lord,  to  go  and  'make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptising 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
Holy  Ghost.'  Upon  every  one  who,  in  the  water  of  bap- 
tism, has  owned  the  eternal  triune  Naine,  she  lays,  on 
peril  of  his  soul  if  he  neglect  it,  the  same  sacred  charge. 
Her  bishops  are  apostles  all ;  her  clergy,  all  evangelists  ; 
her  members^:— each  in  his  own  sphere  and  to  his  utmost 
strength — are  missionaries  every  man  :  and  she — that 
noblest  of  all  -names — a  missionary  Church,  '  to  the  intent 
that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places  may  be  made  known,  by  the  Church,  the  manifold 
wisdom  of  God.' 

"  The    constitution,  as    amended,   having   passed    both 
houses  on  Friday  the  28th,  and  the  committee  to  nominate 

*  See  Appendix  to  "  Missionary  Bishop,"  p.  46. 


MISSIONARY   CONSTITtrriON.  275 

the  board  of  missions  having,  on  Saturday,  been  elected  by 
ballot,  they  reported,  on  Monday,  the  persons  nominated, 
who  were  at  once  unanimously  confirmed.  Then,  for  the 
first  time,  Avas  the  Church  enabled  to  act  to  the  full  limit 
of  her  divine  commission.  Hitherto  she  had  worked  to 
disadvantage  in  sending  out  and  sustaining,  in  her  mission- 
ary field,  deacons  and  presbyters,  without  the  benefit  of 
Episcopal  influence  and  Episcopal  supervision.  Her  flocks 
were  thus  without  a  shepherd ;  and  she  stood  before  the 
world,  so  far  as  she  was  a  missionary  Church,  an  anomaly, 
a  self-contradiction  ;  professing  to  '  do  nothing  without  a 
bishop,'  and  yet  planting  churches  everywhere,  which 
owed  allegiance  to  no  bishop,  and  could  claim  no  bishop's 
blessuig.  By  the  new  oi-ganization,  the  missionary  autho- 
rity and  the  missionary  means  come  uito  the  same  hands. 
Before,  the  Church  ordained  missionaries  who  were  to  go 
out  under  the  protection,  and  rely  on  the  patronage,  of  a 
society  which  the  Church  could  not  control  ;  now,  the 
Church  herself,  by  her  constituted  representative,  collects 
from  all  her  members  the  oHerings  of  their  love ;  and  from 
the  sacred  treasure  clothes  and  feeds  the  servants,  whom, 
in  Jesus'  name,  she  sends.  She  is  free  now  to  send ;  she 
is  able  to  send  ;  she  is  entirely  safe  in  sending,  as  her  divine 
Lord  sent  at  first,  the  overseer  as  well  as  the  servant ;  the 
elders  of  the  Church  not  only,  but  the  apostle,  '  to  ordain 
elders  in  every  city,'  and  to  '  set  in  order  the  things  which 
are  wanting.'  Accordingly,  the  board  of  missions  was  no 
sooner  organized,  than  the  canon  '  of  missionary  bishops,' 
which  had  occupied  for  several  days  the  attention  of  the 
house  of  clerical  and  lay  deputies,  was  passed  unanimously, 
providing  not  only  that  apostles  should  be  sent  to  gather  in 
the  scattered  sheep  throughout  our  owti  broad  land,  but  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  and  to  build  the  Church,  '  where'er  the 
foot  of  man  hath  trod.'  A  canon  worthy  to  be  inscribed  hi 
golden  letters  over  every  altar — let  us  say  more  of  it  than 
that,  a  tndy  ojyostolic  cation. 

"  But  Tuesday,  Sept.  1st,  as  it  was  the  last  day  of  the 
convention,  so  was  it,  by  eminence,  the  day  of  glorious  is- 
sues for  the  Church.  The  board  of  missions,  at  the  call  of 
the  venerable  presiding  bishop,  held  its  first  meeting,  and 


276  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

appointed  its  two  committees  ;  that  for  domestic  missions 
to  be  located  in  the  city  of  New- York,  and  that  for  foreign 
missions  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  The  important  busi- 
ness of  the  session  was  tending  to  a  close  ;  the  whole  day 
had  been  diligently  occupied  in  the  most  solemn  duties. 
The  canon  '  of  missionary  bishops'  had  received  the  final 
sanction  of  both  houses.  Two  over-shepherds  were  to  be 
sent  out,  the  messengers  of  the  Church,  to  gather  and  to 
feed,  under  the  direction  of  the  house  of  bishops,  the  scat- 
tered sheep  that  wander,  with  no  man  to  care  for  their 
souls,  through  all  the  wide  and  distant  west.  It  was  an 
act  in  this  Church  never  exercised  before,  and  yet,, upon  its 
due  discharge,  interests  depended  which  outweigh  the 
world,  and  will  run  out  into  eternity.  In  the  church  (St. 
Andrew's)  the  representatives  of  the  diocese  are  assembled. 
They  wait,  in  their  proper  places,  the  eventful  issue,  while 
expectation  thrills  the  hearts  of  all  the  multitude  which 
throngs  the  outer  courts.  In  a  retired  apartment,  the  fathers  of 
the  Church  are  in  deep  consultation.  There  are  twelve 
assembled.  They  kneel  in  silent  prayer.  They  rise.  They 
cast  their  ballots.  A  presbyter,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the 
churches,  is  called  by  them  to  leave  a  heritage  as  fair  as 
ever  fell  to  mortal  man,  and  bear  his  Master's  cross  through 
the  deep  forests  of  the  vast  south-west.  Again  the  ballots 
are  prepared.  They  are  cast  in  silence.  They  designate 
to  the  same  arduous  work,  where  broad  Missouri  pours  her 
rapid  tide,  another,  known  and  loved  of  all,  whom,  from  an 
humbler  lot,  the  Saviour  now  has  called  to  feed  His  sheep. 
A  messenger  bears  the  result  to  the  assembled  deputies. 
A  breathless  silence  fills  the  house  of  God.  It  is  announced 
that  Francis  L.  Hawks  and  Jackson  Kemper,  doctors  in  di- 
vinity, are  nominated  the  two  first  missionary  bishops  of 
the  Church  ;  and  all  the  delegates,  as  Avith  a  single  voice, 
confirm  the  designation. 

"  One  scene  remains.  The  night  is  far  advanced.  The 
drapery  of  solemn  black  which  lines  the  church  seems  more 
funereal  in  the  faint  light  of  the  expiring  lamps.  The  con- 
gregation linger  still,  to  hear  the  parting  counsels  of  their 
fathers  in  the  Lord.  There  is  a  stir  in  the  deep  chancel. 
The  bishops  enter,  and  array  themselves  in  their  appropri- 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  NEW  MISSIONARY  ORGANIZATION.    277 

ate  seats.  The  aged  patriarch,  at  whose  hands  they  all 
have  been  invested  with  the  warrant  of  their  holy  trust, 
stands  in  the  desk — in  aspect  meek,  serene,  and  venerable, 
as  the  beloved  John  at  Ephesns,  when,  sole  survivor  of  the 
apostolic  band,  he  daily  urged  upon  his  flock  the  affecting 
lesson,  '  Little  chiklren,  love  one  another  I'  Erect  and  tall, 
tliough  laden  Avith  the  weight  of  almost  ninety  winters, 
and  with  voice  distinct  and  clear,  he  holds  encliained  all 
eyes,  all  ears,  all  hearts,  while  with  sustained  and  vigorous 
spirit,  he  recites,  in  the  behalf  and  name  of  all  his  breth- 
ren, the  pastoral  message,  drawn  from  the  stores  of  his 
long-hoarded  learning,  enforced  by  the  deductions  of  his  old 
experience,  and  instinct  throughout  with  the  seraphic 
meekness  of  his  wisdom.  He  ceases  from  his  faithful  tes- 
timony. The  voice  of  melody,  in  the  befitting  words  of  that 
delightful  Psalm,  '  Behold,  how  good  and  pleasant  it  is  for 
brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity,'  melts  every  heart. 
And  then  all  knees  are  bent,  to  ask  once  more,  as  some- 
thing to  be  borne  and  cherished  in  all  after-life,  the  apos- 
tolic benediction  of  that  good  old  man." 

It  was  indeed  a  gooilly  progress  which  God  had  per- 
mitted this  aged  man  to  witness  since  eight  and  forty  years 
before  (February  1787)  he  had  kneeled  in  the  chapel  at 
Lambeth,  and  received  the  gift  of  consecration  from  the 
English  primate.  Great  had  been  God's  goodness  to  the 
infant  western  Church ;  and  now,  at  last,  in  the  spirit  of 
love  and  of  a  sound  mind  which  He  was  pouring  out  upon 
her,  that  goodness  seemed  to  be  fulfilled.  The  old  man 
might  well  take  up  the  song  of  holy  Simeon,  and  declare 
his  readiness  now  "to  depart  in  peace." 

The  direct  consequences  of  the  new  missionary  organi- 
zation were  soon  visible  in  the  Church.  They,  might  be 
traced  in  a  general  increase  of  healtld'ul  energy,  the  natu- 
ral consequence  of  the  consciousness  of  having  taken  right- 
fully high  ground.  Funds,  which  had  been  sparingly  sup- 
plied whilst  the  missionary  cause  was  trusted  to  occasional 
appeals,  and  sacrifices  made  under  excited  feelings,  now 
flowed  in  steadily  and  abundantly,  when  every  baptised 
man  was  summoned  in  right  of  his  vow  at  baptism  to  the 
duty  of  making  systematic  offei'ings  to  His  Master's  cause. 


278 


AMERICAN   CHURCH. 


The  whole  machinery  of  meetings,  and  sermons,  and  auxil- 
iary societies,  had  only  raised  the  missionary  income  to 
337^.  per  annum  from  the  year  1820,  when  the  society  was 
founded,  until  1829.  Then  a  new  spirit  began  to  awaken, 
and  in  the  three  next  years  it  had  reached  more  than  ten 
times  that  amount,  exceeding  3000Z.  But  it  did  not  rest 
here.  In  the  very  year  which  followed  the  amended  con- 
stitution, the  missionary  income  of  the  Church  was  raised 
at  once  by  the  principles,  now  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
whole  community,  to  a  sum  exceeding  12,000/.  The 
main  cause  of  this  vast  increase  is  to  be  found  in  the  one 
simple  principle  of  calling  upon  all  to  give  something  to  the 
work,  as  God  hath  prospered  them,  upon  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  because  they  are  Christian  men.  This  was  first 
warmly  pressed  upon  the  Church  by  the  present  Bishop 
(G.  W.  Doaue)  of  New  Jersey,  and  its  immediate  pecuniary 
consequences  (far,  indeed,  the  smallest  in  importance)  may 
be  seen  in  the  following  statement*  of  the  comparative 
sums  raised  in  six  parishes  within  his  diocese,  on  an  average 
of  five  years  on  the  old  plan  and  one  of  the  new. 


Parishes. 

Average  of  5  years 
under  the  old  plan. 

Offerius's  of  the  Church 
for  the  first  year 

Doll.  CIS. 

£,.  s. 

Doll.  Cts. 

£  «. 

St.  Mary's,  Burliiijton     . 

76     94 

17     7 

271     .59 

61     4 

Trinity  Churcli,  Newark 

49     52 

11     3 

149     20 

33     1 

Christ  Churcli,  New  Brunswick 

13    40 

3     0 

79     9S 

18     0 

Christ's  Church,  Newton 

5      0 

1     2 

50      0 

n    5 

St.  Mark's,  Oran?e  . 

7    54 

1   15 

49     15 

11     1 

St.  Peter's,  Morristown   . 

12    36 

•2  15 

32      6 

7     4 

Total 

Under  the  old  37      2 

Under  the  new        141    16 

Nor  was  this  the  only  evident  advance.  Men,  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  are  more  needed  in  America  than 
money  for  its  conduct.  So  it  must  ever  be  to  a  great  degree ; 
for  personal  service  is  a  far  harder  sacrifice  than  any  gifts 
of  substance,  and  one,  therefore,  which  requires  a  much 
stronger  faith  in  him  who  offers  it.  Nor  can  anything  more 
efi^ectually  repress  this  high  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  than  con- 
ducting missionary  exertions  on  a  contracted  scale,  or  em- 


*  Taken  from  Caswall's  America  and  American  Churcli,  p.  264. 


INCREASE    OF    THE    CHURCH.  279 

ploying  ill  the  work  the  lower  orders  ouly  of  the  ministry,  as 
if  it  were  unworthy  of  the  higher.  On  this  account  the 
move  now  made  in  America  pi'omised  the  happiest  results. 
The  sending  out  the  missionary  bishop  ;  the  attitude  assumed 
by  the  whole  Church;  the  new  responsibility  so  solemnly 
professed  ;  all  of  these  awoke  attention  to  the  real  greatnc^3 
of  the  undertaking,  and  .so  called  forth  minds  of  the  highest 
temper  to  their  appropriate  work.  The  first  fruit  of  the  new 
system  may  be  found  in  Bishop  Kemper's  labors,  who  at 
once  undertook  that  ollice  for  the  due  discharge  of  which 
he  was  admirably  qualilicd.  Wise,  courteous,  and  con- 
ciliating, he  was  at  the  same  time  unweained  in  energy  and 
unsparing  in  exertion.  The  scattered  settlers  of  his  mis- 
sionary diocese  have  seen  and  heard  the  Witness  for 
Christ,  who  has  followed  them  into  the  moral  wilderness  ; 
and  to  the  red  man  of  Indian  blood  the  same  blessed  mes- 
sage has  been  borne  by  the  same  chief  minister  of  Christ. 
The  band  of  presbyters  is  gathering  around  him.  When 
he  was  consecrated  there  was  but  one  in  all  Indiana  ;  in 
1838,  eight  clergymen  were  laboring  amidst  growing  con- 
gregations. Li  Missouri,  a  college  under  the  bishop's  eye 
will  soon  spread  more  widely  still  the  daily  advancing  in- 
fluence of  the  Church.  Every  where  life  is  present  and 
growth  visible.  In  most  of  the  older  dioceses  there  is  a 
marked  and  even  rapid  increase.  Virginia  can  again  show 
eighty-four  presbyters  amongst  her  pastors,  and,  which  she 
could  not  do  of  old,  two  bishops  at  their  head.  Vermont, 
Avhich  had  long  formed  a  part  of  the  eastern  diocese,  elected, 
in  1832,  its  separate  bishop,  and  under  his  able  and  vigi- 
lant superintendence  has  been  steadily  groAving  in  strength 
and  vigor.  The  other  members  of  the  eastern  diocese  are 
looking  on.  to  a  like  partition,  and  like  separate  existence 
under  their  own  bishops.  New- York  is  dividing  under  the 
provisions  of  the  general  convention,  into  two  independent 
sees.  The  clergy  of  Ohio,  whose  infant  beginnings  Bishop 
Chase  had  fostered,  in  1838  numbered  almost  sixty.  In 
Kentucky  diocese  they  had  multiplied  from  eight  to  twenty- 
one  between  1832  and  1838  ;  whilst  in  the  same  space,  in 
Temiessee,  three  scattered  presbyters  have  been  exchanged 
for  a  resident  diocesan,  twelve  settled  clergymen,  and  an 


280  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

infant,  college  for  theological  instruction.  In  1836,  Michi- 
gan received  its  bishop,  and  has  since  flourished  greatly 
under  his  exertions  ;  while,  in  1838,  a  diocese  was  organ- 
ised in  the  far  southern  state  of  Florida. 

Such  have  been  some  of  the  immediate  results  which 
have  followed  the  awakening  of  the  Church  to  the  sense  of 
her  high  duties  and  entrusted  powers.  That  she  may  thus 
go  on  and  prosper,  must  be  the  earnest  prayer,  not  only  of 
every  English  Churchman,  but  of  every  one  who  loves  in 
truth  the  honor  of  His  Master's  name. 

For  the  work  of  foreign  Missions  she  is  eminently  qual- 
ified. For  this  peculiar  service  she  is  rendered  fitter  even 
by  her  separation  from  the  state  ;  unfettered  by  political 
connection,  she  may  multiply  at  need  her  bishops,  whilst 
the  enei'gy  and  maritime  adventure  of  her  anglo-Saxon  race 
promise  to  secure  admission  for  her  sons  to  every  nation  of 
the  earth.  It  may  be  that  for  this  work  specially  her  wit- 
ness has  been  thus  raised  up  in  the  west  ;  it  may  be  that 
for  this  the  providence  of  G-od  was  over-ruling  that  want 
of  faith,  or  that  indolence,  at  home  Avhich  never  suffered 
her  to  grow  into  a  perfect  Church  whilst  her  connection 
with  the  mother-people  lasted ; — that  so  she  might  spring 
at  length  into  a  sudden  maturity,  rich  in  hopes,  rich  in  ex- 
pectations ;  in  the  first  possession  of  her  powers,  when  she 
could  thus  use  them  without  let  or  hindrance  for  the  evan- 
gelizing of  the  world.*     From  us  she  must  have  learned  a 

*  It  is  impossible  to  omit  here  all  mention  of  the  noble  efforts 
made  in  this  great  cause  at  Atliens,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill. 
I  have  now  before  me,  through  the  kindness  of  a  friend,  a  letter 
from  one  well  qualified  to  judge,  written  from  Athens  in  October 
1844,  and  which  contains  tiie  following  sentences  : — "  Mr.  Hill  is  the 

next  man  in  Athens  to  King  Otho An  able  and  successful 

diplomatist  here  told  me,  that  he  was  firmly  persuaded  that  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Hill  had  conferred  far  more  signal  benefits  upon  Greece 
than  all  the  allied  powers  put  together.  His  praise  of  Mrs.  Hill 
was  scarcely  bounded  ;  he  said  that  she  was  a  woman  of  Uie  rarest 
qualities  of  excellence,  and  that  her  heart,  especially  for  goodness 
and  stoutness  (and  it  had  been  severely  tried  in  both  respects),  could 
scarcely  be  equalled.  He  believed  that  they  had  been  the  cause  of 
the  education  of  more  than  20,000  Greeks.  They  taught  and  tliey 
sent  forth  those  prepared  to  instruct ;  and  their  example  has  been 
followed,  and  is  working  a  wonderful  reformation. 


DEATH    OF    BISHOP    WHITE.  281 

slower  and  more  cautious  policy ;  and  even  the  achieve- 
ment of  her  national  independence  might  not  have  broken 
through  old  habits,  or  set  her  free  to  labor  in  the  ardor  of 
her  first  love  for  every  race  which  yet  sits  in  darkness. 

May  this,  then,  be  her  course  ;  may  she  be  stirred  up 
to  earnest  prayer,  to  high  gifts  of  self-sacrifice,  to  untiring 
and  well-ordered  labors,  and  the  grace  of  God  will  go 
along  with  her.  Great  achievements  lie  before  her.  An 
open  field  for  noble  and  unlimited  service  invites  all  her 
energies.  In  her,  too,  is  the  "  salt  of  the  earth"  for  the 
preservation  of  her  own  busy  and  restle.ss  people.  The  un- 
bounded western  frontier,  her  fertile  soil,  her  enterprising 
citizens,  her  mighty  forests,  her  harbors,  her  traffic,  and 
her  merchandise — these  may  make  America  rich  and 
luxurious,  and  for  a  season  mighty  among  the  people  of  the 
earth  ;  but  in  the  Church  of  Jesus,  thus  planted  in  the 
midst  of  her,  and  in  that  alone,  is  to  be  fomid  the  pervad- 
ing, elevating,  and  enduring  influence,  whicli  can  make 
her  truly  great. 

This  important  convention  rose  on  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber, 1835.  It  was  the  last,  as  has  been  said,  over  which 
the  venerable  Bishop  White  presided.  Long  as  it  had 
been  delayed,  to  him  also  the  last  summons  was  now 
sent.  Throughout  this  year  and  until  tlie  following  June, 
he  conthiued  as  usual  to  officiate  in  his  parish  duties. 
Then  severe  illness  bowed  down  his  aged  frame.  Still  his 
strength  endured.  He  rallied  from  his  sickness,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  again  possessed  of  renovated  vigor  ;  and  it 
was  hoped  he  might  preside  at  the  approaching  consecra- 
tion of  Dr.  M'Goskry,  elected  bishop  of  Michigan.  But  his 
sands  were  fast  running  out.  No  violent  disease  re-ap- 
peared ;  but  the  fountains  were  broken  up,  and  his  life 
ebbed  gently  from  him.  Surrounded  by  his  family,  and 
attended  by  Bishop  Doane  and  Dr.  M'Coskry,  "  in  full 
reliance  on  the  alone  merits  of  his  Saviour,  and  blessed  in 
realizing  God's  protecting  care  in  life  and  death,"*  he 
meekly  breathed  his  last,  during  the  morning  service  of 
the  Church  he  loved,  on  Sunday,  July  17,  183G. 

»  Life  of  Bishop  ^Miite,  by  Dr.  Bird  Wilson,  p.  267. 


282  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

Of  the  character  of  this  good  man,  little  can  he  added 
to  what  has  been  already  said  in  tracing  the  history  with 
which  his  life  is  intertwined.     He  was  doubtless  an  emi- 
nent instrument  of  God  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
western  Church.     For  this  his  meek  wisdom  greatly  fitted 
him  ;  probably  with  any  other  cast  of  character  he  could 
not  have  done  what  he  now  was  able  to  efiect.     Though 
classed  by  his  biographer  with  "the  low-church  divines, 
as  they  are  called,  of  the   Church   of  England,"  he   yet 
maintained  firmly  the  distinctive  features  of  Church  doc- 
trine.     Speaking  of  a  sermon  preached  by  Bishop  Moore 
before  the  convention  of  1820,  and  of  the  offence  given  to 
some  of  the  house  of  deputies  by  its  maintaining  the  doc- 
trine of  baptismal  regeneration,  he  admits  that  on  such  an 
occasion  •'  all  questions  should  be  avoided  in  which  the 
sense  of  the  episcopal  Church  is  doubtful."      "  But,"  he 
continues,    "it   is   to   be  lamented   that   there   should   be 
brought  under  this  head  a  doctrine  which  we  have  been 
taught  to  lisp  in  the  earliest  repetitions  of  our  Catechism, 
which  pervades  sundry  of  our  devotional  services,  especially 
the  baptismal,  which  is  affirmed  in  our  Articles  also,  which 
was  confessedly  held  and  taught  during  the  ages  of  the 
martyrs,   and  the  belief  of  which  was   universal  in  the 
Church  until  it  was  perceived  to  be  inconsistent  with  a 
religious  theory,  the  beginning  and  the  progress  of  which 
can   be  as  distinctly  traced  as  those  of  any  error  of  po- 
pery "* 

He  was  not  less  distinct  as  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Christian  Church.  In  his  "  Lecture  on  the  Catechism," 
he  lays  it  down  that  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  are  of 
divine  appointment  ;t  that  succession  is  the  only  mode  of 
transmitting  the  ministry  which  is  of  divine  institution ; 
and  that  the  door  of  entering  opened  by  the  Head  of  the 
Church  is  the  only  one  through  which  the  character  of  a 
pastor  in  the  Church  can  be  obtained. $ 

It  is  true  that  it  is  diflicidt  always  to  reconcile  his 

*  Life  by  Dr.  Bird  Wilson,  p.  229. 
t  Ibid.  p.  157,  158. 

I  Vide  letter  of  Bishop  Hobart  to  Bishop  "White — ia  M'Vickar'a 
Life,  p.  413. 


CHARACTER.   OF    BISHOP   ■\\anTE.  283 

practical  concessions  with  the  strictness  of  the  principles  he 
here  lays  down  ;  but,  as  we  have-^een,  this  very  temper 
made  him  probably  the  fitter  instrument  for  his  own  pecu- 
liar task.  Lxod  works  by  various  hands  ;  and  the  soft  and 
yielding,  so  that"  they  be  faithful  to  His  truth,  have  their 
own  appointed  task,  even  as  to  the  sterner  and  more  rug- 
ged, it  his  grace  dwell  hi  them,  is  allotted  theirs.  And  to 
his  hght  this  venerable  man  would  seem  to  have  been 
always  true.  He  was  bred,  indeed,  in  a  lower  scliool  both 
of  faith  and  Christian  feeling  than  that  which  was  after- 
wards vouchsafed  to  the  Church  ;  and  from  this  cause 
vhere  seems,  to  a  certain  extent,  to  have  always  hung 
about  him  a  want  of  distinctness  as  to  the  liigher  Christian 
doctrines,  and  a  corresponding  want  of  warmth  of  spiritual 
character :  but  he  was  a  truly  humble  man,  and  the  bles- 
sing of  the  meek  was  his.  His  trust  was  only  in  his  cru- 
cified Redeemer,  and  he  did  seek  for  the  sanctifying  pres- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  rock  was  under  him  ;  and 
throughout  a  long  life  he  never  shrunk  from  any  known 
duty. 

When,  in  the  autumn  of  1793,  the  yellow  fever  first 
appeared  in  Philadelphia,  it  spread  a  panic  terror  through 
all  classes.  The  curse  of  a  plague-struck  city  was  upon 
the  population.  Along  the  deserted  streets,  amidst  the 
vultures  which  prayed  upon  the  ofl'al,  roamed  only  those 
fiends  in  human  garb,  who  seek  at  such  a  moment  for 
plunder  amongst  the  dying  and  the  dead.  Three-fourths  of 
all  tlie  inbabitants  had  fled  from  the  place.  The  outcast, 
the  infected,  tlie  dyiuir,  and  the  few  whom  love  kept  still 
around  their  beds, — these  only  remained.  Dr.  White  was 
strongly  urged  to  join  the  liyiug  throng.  The  specious 
argument,  that  his  single  life  was  eminently  precious,  as- 
sailed him  from  the  lips  of  those  whom  he  esteemed  for 
piety  and  loved  with  the  simple  warmth  of  family  afl'ec- 
tion.  But  he  listened  not  to  such  suggestions.  Where 
should  the  pastor  be  at  sucli  a  time  but  with  the  sick  and 
dying  ?  where  the  bishop  but  at  the  head  of  his  flock  ? 
Removing  his  family  into  the  country,  he  remained  at  his 
own  house,  spending  day.s  and  nights  with  the  victims  of 
the  pestilence.     One  servant,  who  resolved  to  remain  with 


284  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

his  master,  died  in  his  sight ;  but  his  faith  was  not  shak- 
en ;  and  the  plague  passed  off  without  his  receiving  any 
injury. 

Once  again,  thirty-nine  years  later,  he  was  tried  in  the 
same  way.  The  Asiatic  cholera  appeared  at  Philadelphia 
with  all  the  terror  of  its  appalling  character  and  unknown 
course.  His  advanced  years  would  then  have  furnished 
an  easy  excuse  for  one  who  sought  to  escape  the  supposed 
danger  of  intercourse  with  the  infected.  But  the  aged  bi- 
shop was  a  man  of  another  stamp  ;  and  in  his  eighty-fifth 
year  he  might  be  seen  daily  in  the  cholera-hospital,  pray- 
ing by  the  bedside  of  the  dying  patient. 

Nor,  with  so  much  that  was  naturally  yielding  in  his 
temper,  did  he  fail,  when  his  judgment  was  decided,  boldly 
to  resist  those  with  whose  political  opinions  he  was  most 
predisposed  to  sympathise.  In  his  later  years  a  large  sum 
of  money  was  bequeathed  by  a  wealthy  Philadelphia  mer- 
chant to  the  corporation  of  the  city,  for  the  foundation  of 
an  orphan  college,  on  the  sole  condition  that  the  boys  should 
be  kept  without  any  instructions  in  any  religious  creed, 
from  six  to  eighteen,  that  they  might  then  "  adopt  such 
religious  tenets  as  their  matured  reason  should  enable  them 
to  prefer."  But  the  good  bishop  was  not  to  be  led  away 
by  this  specious  liberality.  He  at  once  condemned  the 
conditions  of  the  will,  and  addressed  to  the  corporation  an 
uncompromising  and  powerful  appeal,  in  which  he  urged 
them  "to  a  respectful  but  determined  rejection  of  the 
trust."  "  It  is,"  he  allowed,  "  a  great  sacrifice  ;  but  it 
cannot  be  too  great  when  the  acceptance  of  it  would  be  an 
acknowledgement  that  religion,  even  in  its  simplest  forms, 
is  unnecessary  to  the  binding  men  to  their  various  du- 
ties."* 


*  Life  of  Bishop  White,  p.  244.  The  speech  of  D.Webster,  when, 
in  1844,  the  question  came,  by  appeal  from  the  local  jurisdiction  of 
Philadelphia,  before  the  supreme  court  of  tlie  United  States,  is  full 
of  a  noble  eloquence  :  "  Would  any  Christian  parent,"  he  asks,  "  con- 
sider it  desirable  for  his  orphan  children  after  his  death  to  find  re- 
fuge in  this  asylum  .  .  .  under  all  the  circumstances  and  character- 
istics  which  belong  to  it  ? Poor  as  children  can  be  left,  who 

would  not  rather  trust  them  to  the  Christian  charity  of  the  world, 


Viorcacs.                Connecticut. 

Ptnngt/lrania. 

f^eiD'York. 

Virginia. 

Maryland. 

South  Carolina. 

He  a  Hampshire  and 
Masaachuaetts. 

Neic  Jersey. 

Ohio. 

Iforth  Carolina. 

Vermont. 

Kentucky. 

Tcnnetiet. 

niinoii. 

Miaaouri  and  Indiana. 

Delnware. 

Maine. 

Alabama. 

— F 

Michigan. 

Florida. 

1784.  Nov.  14 
1787.  Feb.  4. 
1700.  Sep.  19 
1702.  Sop.  12 
1705.  Sop.  14 
1797.  May  7 

Ocl.  18 

1801.  Sep.  11 

1804.  Sep.  14 
1311.  I\lny29 
1812.  Ocl.  1.1 
1B14.  May  19 

Sep.  1 

1915.  Nov.  19 

1810.                J 
ISIB.  Oel.  6 
11-19.  Feb.  11 

Oel.  27 

1823.  M„y  2:1 

1827.  Oct.  25 

1929.  Ocl  10 

1930.  Ocl  si 

Nov.  SO 

1831.  Sep.  28. 
1932.  Ocl  31 

1934.  Jnn.  14 

1935.  (consB.  ) 
crnlod  1819)  ) 

18.15.  Sep.  25 
1836 

)r.  8.  Seabury.* 

Dr.  W.  White. 

Dr.  S.  ProvooBt. 

Dr.  J.  MadiaoD. 

R.  Smith,  D.D. 

E.  Bass,  D.T). 

J(^D  Croes,  D.D. 

Philander  Clin.e,  D.D. 

i   S,  Roven?croft,  D.Dj 
L.  S.  I  vet,  D.D. 

1.  H.  HopkiM!. 

U.  11.  Smith, 

J.  11-  Otev.  D.D. 

t.  Chaie,  D.D.' 

'■■■: 

Ufa 

Jackioti  Kumpcr.D.D*. 

nss 

1620 

1832 

s  A,  M'Cnskrpy. 

1838 

Abraliom  Jnrvis,  D.D. 

Bonj.  Moore,  D.D.* 

f 

VacBfil  by  the  death 

( 

Samuel  Parker,  D.P.* 
A.  V,  Griswold.  D.D.t 

J  II  Hobort    DD.t 

1         .             ..       .. 



;•■ 

—  Kemp,  D.  D.* 



Vacant  by  tlio  doatli 
of  Dr.  JarvlK. 

i 

N.  Bowen,  D.D.* 



T.  C.  nrownoll,  D.D. 

1 

U,  U.  Ondordonk,  D;D.* 

i-- 

1 

W.  Meade,  D.D.t 

Vacant  bylhedeath' 
of  Dr.  Kemp,  1827. 

1 

)      

6.  T.  Onderdoiik,  ft.  D. 

G!  W.  Doanc,  D.D. 

C.  p.  M'llvaine,  D.D. 

; 





.' 

Joined  tfao    ' 
general    con- 
vention   as 
*'  orgnnifled     ■ 
Chutche*." 

1769 

1785 

1785 

1795 

1785 

I7sr. 

1785 

1919 

1017 

tmi 

1929 

•  Biibop  Sckbury  .il-«1 
uil«6. 

thftP  While. 

1 

1    •  Dr.  P«»voo«i  rwiped.        ■  Aficr  *  vacwicjr  o 
t  Aolilanlbuhop.                i\ro  r«an. 

t  AubUnt  blihop. 

*  Suffrann  to  Bishop 
|CU|nr*ntailS16. 

t  After  t  T«c»ncjr  ol 
three  jttn. 

*  Suceoeded  Dr.  Dr 
hon,  who  died  Aiigu* 
1811. 

*  Od  the  death  of  Dr.  But. 

I     1  Vermont  end    Rhode  It 
land    were    kssoc  tated    with 
MaiB»chuictU       ind       New 

lH*inp*hirp.     cilled     hence 
forth  "the  Eaitem  Diocew.' 

1 

1 

ihoporohio.un. 

•  MUiionery  blJtinp. 

I 


CONCLUSION    OF    THE    HISTORY.  285 

He  died,  as  he  had  lived  for  eighty-eight  years — with- 
out an  enemy  ;  and,  the  first  of  that  order  which  had  been 
the  subject  of  such  fierce  suspicions,  he  was  followed  to 
the  grave,  through  streets  from  which  ordiuary  business 
had  been  spontaneously  banished,  by  the  public  authorities, 
by  the  various  literary  and  charitable  bodies,  and  by  thou- 
sands of"  unpurchased  mourners. 

The  thread  of  our  history  has  brought  us  down  to  living 
men,  and  scenes  in  the  great  drama  which  are  not  yet  acted 
out.  Here  it  seems  meet  to  pause,  remembering  the  cau- 
tion of  the  wise  historian,  who,  for  safety's  sake,  would  not 
"  follow  even  truth  too  closely  by  the  heels."  We  have 
brought  down  the  history  of  the  Church  from  its  ambigu- 
ous colonial  existence,  through  the  struggles  of  the  war  of 
independence,  to  its  firm  and  general  establishment  in  the 
wide  regions  of  the  western  continent.  The  table  which 
concludes  this  chapter  will  show  at  one  view  the  dates  and 
order  of  the  foundation  of  the  various  dioceses,  and  the  con- 
secrations of  the  difi'erent  bishops  of  America. 

It  remains  only,  in  the  concluding  chapter,  to  estimate 
the  present  position,  and,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  yet  distant 
prospect,  of  the  body  the  history  of  which  thus  lies  before 
us. 

however  uncertaia  it  has  been  said  to  be,  than  place  them  whore 
their  physical  wants  and  comforts  would  be  abundantly  attended  to, 
but  away  from  the  solaces,  the  consolations,  the  graces,  and  the  grace 
of  the  Christian  religion  ?" 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Present  influence  of  the  Episcopal  Church — Rapid  extension — Esti- 
mated numbers — Clergy — Extent  and  population  of  diocesses — 
Influence  on  the  moral  character  of  the  people — Favorable  symp- 
toms— Sects — Revivals — Sociuianism — Sober  tone  of  the  Church 
— Duelling — Its  character  in  America — Instance — Church  resists 
duels — Canon — Instance — Unfavorable  symptoms — Divorce — 
Marriage — Treatment  of  the  colored  race — The  great  sore  of  Ame- 
rica— State  of  negroes  in  the  south,  religious,  moral,  physical-;— 
Slave-breeding  states — Internal  slave-trade — Duty  of  the  Church 
to  testify — Her  silence — Participation — Palliation  of  these  evils — 
State  of  the  colored  population  in  the  north — Insults — Degrada- 
tion— Caste — Duty  of  the  Church — Her  silence — Case  of  General 
Theological  Seminary — Alexander  Crummell — Estimate  of  her  in- 
fluence— Her  small  hold  on  the  poor — Architecture  and  arrange- 
ment of  churches — Pew-rent  system — Prospects  of  the  Church — 
Danger  from  indifference  to  formal  truth — Chaplains  to  Congress 
— Thomas  Jefferson — Romanism — Its  schismatical  rise  in  America 
— Spread  in  the  West — Promises  a  refuge  from  the  sects — Courts 
democracy — Main  resistance  from  tlie  Church — How  slie  may  be 
strong — Need  of  adhering  to  lier  own  princiijles — Of  a  high  moral 
tone — The  slave-question — Favorable  promise — Higher  principles 
— More  care  of  the  poor — Colored  race — Gains  on  the  population 
— Conclusion. 

In  forming  an  estimate  of  the  present  state  of  the  Ameri- 
can Episcopal  Church,  there  are  several  lines  of  inquiry 
which  we  may  follow  up.  The  first  which  naturally  sug- 
gests itself  is,  its  territorial  and  numerical  hold  upon  the 
extent  and  population  of  the  land.  If,  then,  we  compare 
the  map  of  America  with  the  fixed  organization  of  the 
Church,  we  are  at  once  struck  with  its  rapid  and  univer- 
sal extension.  Bishoprics,  as  well  as  what  in  the  looser 
language  of  the  west  are  termed  dioceses,*  are  well-nigh 

*  Districts  in  which  a  number  of  congregations  are  united  together 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  American  Church,  and  so  termed  "  or- 


EXTENT  AND  NUMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.      287 

co-extensive  with  the  states  of  the  Union.  Through  all 
that  vast  continent  the  living  form  of  Church-polity  has 
grown  up  as  in  a  night,  from  the  two  bishops  Avho  landed 
at  New- York  on  Easter  Sunday,  1787,  From  puritan 
Massachusetts  in  the  north,  down  to  the  slave-tilled  bot- 
toms of  torrid  Louisiana,  and  from  the  crowded  harbor  of 
New- York  back  to  the  unbroken  forests  and  rolling  prairies 
of  Illinois,  the  successors  of  the  Twelve  administer  in 
Christ's  name  the  rule  of  His  spiritual  kingdom. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  estimate  aright  the  proportion  of 
the  varied  population  of  these  wide  tracts  which  have  re- 
ceived this  Ikith.  The  work  of  its  leaven-like  power  and 
growing  presence  is  noiseless  and  secret,  and  to  obtain 
exact  accuracy  may  be  impossible  ;  but  something  may  be 
done.  It  has  been  calculated,  as  the  nearest  approximation 
which  can  be  obtained,  that  about  1,500,000  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States  belong  to  this  communion  ;  its 
clergy  amount  to  1224.*  Here,  therefore,  also,  is  abund- 
ant proof  of  a  wide-spread  and  increasing  growth  of  this 
fair  plant  of  God  amongst  our  western  children  ;  since  the 
hindrances  imposed  by  our  carelessness  or  fear  were  swept 
away,  and  it  has  been  allowed  to  strike  at  Avill  its  roots 
among  them. 

But  though  there  be  goodly  signs  of  life  and  growth  in 
the  extension  of  dioceses  and  the  gathering  in  of  souls,  yet, 
on  the  other  hand,  when  we  see  the  vast  extent  over 
which  diocesan  authority  is  spread,  it  seems  as  if  it  must 
too  often  melt  into  a  shadow :  and  when  further  we  com- 
pare the  number  in  the  fold  with  the  multitude  without, 
we  perceive  that  as  yet  the  hold  of  this  communion  on  the 
mass  of  living  acting  men  can  be  but  slight.  It  is  too 
plain,  that  in  many  districts  it  consists  only  of  a  scattered 
handful  here  and  there,  and  has  not  yet  gathered  in  with 
a  strong  arm  the  ripe  harvest  of  souls  into  the  garner  of 
the  Lord.  The  annexed  table  will  show  at  one  view  the 
number  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  in  each  state,  and  op- 
posite to  them  the  number  of  the  square  miles  over  which 

ganized,"  and  capable  of  sending  delegates  to  convention,  but  which 
do  not  yet  possess  a  bisliop. 

*  Church  Almanac  for  18-14:  New-York. 


288 


AMERICAN    CHURCH. 


their  charge  extends,  and  of  the  masses  for  whom  they 
labor.  As  a  general  conclusion,  we  may  see  that  these  22 
bishops  and  1202  clergy  are  ministering  among  a  mass  of 
human  beings,  of  all  colors  of  belief,  or  of  no  belief  at  all, 
amounting  to  above  17  millions,  who  are  scattered  over  an 
extent  of  above  one  million  of  square  miles. 


BishopB. 

Clergy. 

States. 

Population. 

Square  miles. 

0* 

6 

Maiiio 

501,793 

32,000 

0 

10 

Ne".v  Hninpsliire 

284.574 

9,280 

29 

Vornioiit  . 

291,948 

10,200 

58 

Massacliiisetts 

637,()99 

7,800 

25 

RlioJe  Island  . 

108,830 

1.095 

10-2 

Connecticut      . 

310,015 

4,800 

202 

New-York 

1,293,783 

21,751 

105 

Western  New-York 

1,135,138 

21,463 

47 

New  Jersey 

373,306 

6,600 

115 

Pennsylvania  . 

1,724,022 

46,000 

11 

Delaware 

78,085 

2,120 

93 

Maryland 

409,2.32 

10,930 

98 

Virginiii    . 

1,239,797 

64,000 

32 

North  Carolina 

75.3,110 

43,800 

49 

Sonth  Carolina 

594,398 

30,000 

C2 

Ohio 

1,519,467 

50,000 

14 

Georgia    . 

770,000 

58.000 

2-2 

Kentucky 

790,000 

40,000 

12 

Tennessee 

829.210 

40.000 

ot 

11 

Mississippi 

375,651 

48,000 

7 

Louisiana 

351,176 

48,220 

24 

Michigan 

211,705 

55,000 

ot 

10 

Alabama  . 

6.50.000 

46,000 

r 

14 

Illinois      .         . 

474,404 

59,500 

0 

4 

Florida     . 

54,207 

87,750 

0§ 

15 

Indiana     . 

683,317 

35,000 

ol 

10 

Missouri  . 

381,102 

64,000 

1 

9 

Wisconsin 

30,852 

11 

4 

Iowa 

43,0t>8 

2 

Arkansas 

95,642 

58,000 

22 

1202 

17,055,531 

1,001,309 

*  Administered  by  the  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island. 
t  Administered  by  the  Bishop  of  Tennessee. 

I  Administered  by  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana. 

§  These    three  administered   by  the    missionarj'  bishop  residing  in 
Wisconsin. 

II  Administered  by  the  Bisliop  of  Tennessee. 


But  another  and  a  better  measure  of  the   influence  of 
this  body  on  the  people  of  the  west  is  aflbrded  by  its  actual 
power  over  morals  and  opinions.     Now,  tried  by  this  test, 
the  conclusion  does  not  differ  greatly  from  that  yielded  by 


INCLINATION    OF    TIIE    SECTS.  289 

the  last.  Much,  undoubtedly,  it  is  doing,  and  has  done. 
No  where  have  the  restless  waters  of  the  multitude  of 
sects  tossed  themselves  in  wilder  madness  than  in  the  new 
world.  The  line  of  this  history  forbids  any  minute  exam- 
ination of  their  state  ;  but  the  general  aspect  they  present 
towards  the  Episcopalian  body  must  be  noticed.*  Between 
it  and  some  of  them  there  is  as  close  an  approximation  as 
there  can  be  without  union.  To  many  of  the  separation, 
Christ's  truth  has  never  been  proposed  in  any  other  form 
than  that  in  which  they  hold  it.  In  them  there  has  been 
no  stubborn  rejection  oi"  a  higher  teaching,  but  rather  a 
diligent  use  of  all  which  has  been  vouchsafed  to  them. 
On  such  men  the  blessing  of  God  has  visibly  rested.  No 
unprejudiced  observer  can  doubt  that  His  grace  has  wrought 
through  them  His  blessed  work  for  multitudes  around  them. 
As  their  hght  increases,  many  of  these  join  openly  the 
Church's  ranks.  So  far,  indeed,  does  this  migration  pre- 
vail, that  no  tewer  than  one-half  of  the  existing  clergy,  and 
even  of  the  bishopsf  themselves,  have  been  won  over  from 
the  sects.  And  this  process  seems  still  to  be  extending. 
At  Boston  there  is  now  a  striking  revulsion  of  feehng  to- 
wards the  Church,  of  whose  exclusively  apostolical  con- 
stitution many  of  the  ministers  amongst  the  sects  are  now 
convinced.  Their  present  position  seems  to  be  one  Avhich 
honest  men  camiot  long  consent  to  occupy.  They  "  admit 
the  doctrine  of  the  visible  Church,  and  the  apostolical  suc- 
cession, and  consequently  the  schism  of  which  the  original 
founders  of  their  sect  were  guilty;"  but  claim  "prescrip- 
tion as  eflacing  the  flaw  in  the  original  deed."  Thus  it  is 
their  view,  that  sectarians,  (is  a  body,  ought  to  reunite 
themselves  to  the  Church,  and  that  each  individual  ought 
to  endeavor  earnestly  to  bring  about  this  reunion ;  whilst, 
without  it,  he  would  not  be  justified  in  straggling  from  his 
appointed  place  in  the  economy  of  Providence. J  This  po- 
sition seems  to  imply  much  the  same  dishonesty  of  niind 
as  would  lead  an  English  Churchman,  whose  affections 
had  been  unhappily  seduced  to  Rome,  to  remain  within 

*  See  preface.  t  Caswall,  p.  332. 

X  Letters  from  America,  vol.  ii.  p.  160.     The  exact  words  are  not 
given. 

13 


290  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  English  Church,  seeking  to  bring  her  again  under  the 
bonds  and  corruption  of  the  Papacy.  Still,  the  efiect  on 
minds  so  disposed,  of  the  institutions  and  doctrines  after 
which  they  are  reaching  forth,  cannot  easily  be  overrated. 

Greatly  is  such  an  influence  needed  by  the.se  bodies. 
Abundant  as  some  of  them  have  no  doubt  been  in  faith  and 
good  works,  yet,  taken  as  a  Avhole,  they  signally  illustrate 
the  absurdities  and  degradation  to  which  religious  license, 
unlimited  by  fixed  forms  of  belief,  is  ever  prone  to  run. 
The  rise  and  prevalence  of  Mormonisin  is  a  startling  fact 
in  the  religious  history  of  man ;  and  the  same  features, 
though  less  broadly  marked,  may  be  traced  in  many  other 
quarters.  Rehgion  has  always  exhibited  a  tendency  to 
wear  out  within  a  few  generations  where  it  has  not  been 
''  kept  fixed  and  permanent  by  the  external  framework  at 
first  appointed  by  the  Lord.  That  such  has  been  the  case 
in  America  we  have  a  striking  testimony  in  the  writings 
of  Bishop  Chase,  himself,  as  has  been  seen,*  sprung  from 
a  dissenting  family  which  had  maintained  its  early  princi- 
ples with  unusual  faithfulness.  "  When  the  Puritans,"  he 
says,t  "  by  leaving  the  Church,  broke  the  vessel,  the  oil 
was  split  upon  the  ground  ;  and  though  some  of  it  mjy  be 
gathered  in  the  sherds  and  burn  brightly  for  a  time,  yet 
the  flame  soon  expires,  and  all  around  is  left  in  darkness." 
Such  was  the  existing  state  of  things  he  found  in  Vermont. 
Catechisms  had  been  laid  aside  ;  to  teach  their  children 
the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Christian  faith  was 
deemed  an  infringement  on  their  natural  and  inalienable 
rights  ;  by  far  the  greater  part  had  not  been  baptised ;  and 
the  general  ignorance  was  turned  to  their  own  purposes 
by  various  classes  of  infidels. 

Such  has  been  too  often,  in  the  west,  the  unhappy  pro- 
gress of  declining  faith  ;  and  so  the  ground  has  been  left 
open  for  increasing  evil.  Every  fantastic  opinion  which 
has  disturbed  the  peace  of  Christendom  has  been  re-pro- 
duced in  stronger  growth  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlaulic. 
Division  has  grown  up  in  all  its  rankness,  and  seeded  freely 
on  every  side  a  new  crop  of  errors.     Even  amongst  those 

*  P.  239.  f  Reminiscences,  p.  100, 


TENDENCY    TO    SOCINIANISM.  291 

sects  which  have  retained  the  larofest  measure  of  origrinal 
truth,  the  eflects  of  this  state  of  things  are  visihle.  The 
history  of  their  "  Revivals,"  as  they  are  termed,  with  their 
"new  measures,"  "  anxious  seats,"  " itinerant  evangeUsts," 
and  "  protracted  meetings,"  sometimes  of  forty  days'  con- 
tinuance,* is  httle  else  than  a  record  of  the  wildest  extra- 
vagance,! which,  ui  the  j  udgment  of  the  more  sober  even 
of  their  own  body,  "  thi-eatens  to  pour  forth  a  host  of  ar- 
dent, inexperienced,  imprudent  young  men,  to  obliterate 
civihzation,  and  roll  back  the  wheels  of  time  to  semi-bar- 
barism, until  New-England  of  the  west  shall  be  burnt 
over,  and  religion  disgraced  and  trodden  down,  as  in  some 
parts  of  New-England  it  was  done  eighty  years  ago,  when 
laymen  and  women,  Indians  and  negroes,  male  and  female, 
preached  and  prayed,  and  exhorted,  until  confusion  itself 
became  coiifo  inded."  "  This  will  unavoidably  pi'oduce 
infidels,  scoffers,  unitarians,  and  universalists,  on  every 
side,  increasing  the  resistance  seven-fold  to  evangelical  doc- 
trine." t 

This  has  been  already  the  fruit  of  these  fierce  excite- 
ments. The  children  of  "  the  pilgrims"  have  openly  cast 
off  their  fathers'  creed,  and  glory  in  doctrines  which  were 
marked  out  in  the  days  of  New-England's  settlement  for 
the   direst   anathema.       In  Massachusetts^   the  Socinians 

*  Drs.  Reed  and  Matheson's  Visit,  vol.  ii.  p.  40. 

f  The  following  extract  from  an  unsuspected  quarter  will  show 
the  true  nature  of  these  artificial  heats.  "  A  revival-preacher,  after 
delivering  a  sermon,  called  on  '  the  anxious'  to  meet  him  in  the  lec- 
ture-room. About  200  obeyed.  He  called  on  them  to  kneel  in 
prayer  ;  and  he  offered  an  alarming  and  terrific  prayer.  They  arose. 
'  As  many  of  you,'  he  said,  '  as  have  given  youi-selves  to  God  in 
that  prayer,  go  into  the  new  convert  room.'  Upwards  of  twenty 
went.  'Xow,'  he  said  to  the  remainder,  'let  us  pray.'  He  prayed 
again  in  like  matmer.  He  then  challenged  those  who  had  given 
them-ielves  to  God  in  that  prayer  to  go  into  the  new  convert  room. 
Anotlier  set  followed.  This  was  repeated  four  times.  The  next 
morning  he  left  the   town,  having  previously'  sent  a  notice  to   the 

newspapers,  stating  that  Mr. had  preached  there  last  night,  and 

that  61  converts  professed  religion."  Drs.  Reed  and  Matheson's 
Visit,  vol.  ii.  p.  29. 

X  I,etten;  from  Dr.  Beecher, — Reed  and  Matheson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  34, 35. 

§  Reed  and  Matheson,  vol.  ii.  p  60. 


292  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

have  130  Societies  and  110  ministers  :  in  the  town  of  Bos- 
ton their  congregations  average  from  600  to  1000.  Theirs, 
"  if  not  the  rehgion  of  the  numerical  majority,  is  that  of 
the  opulent  and  official  classes,  who  compose  the  aristocracy 

of  the  city It  is  said,  indeed,  that  with  whatever 

religion  men  begin  life,  when  they  get  very  rich,  and  with- 
draw from  active  business,  they"*  join  this  party.  Iir  its 
tenets  they  find  repose  from  the  extravagant  excitement  of 
the  other  sects  ;  they  are  freely  allowed  such  unlimited 
measures  of  infidelity  or  doubt  as  suit  their  own  inclina- 
tions ;  and  they  find  themselves  surrounded  by  those  who 
take  the  lead  in  every  walk  of  social  life.  This  state  of 
things  has  long  been  growing  up  :  the  Church  was  too  weak 
around  the  Puritans  to  keep  them  by  its  indirect  influence 
to  the  foundations  of  the  faith  ;  and  no  sect  that  has  ever 
yet  arisen  has  possessed,  Avithin  itself,  the  gift  of  perma- 
nence. Here  the  declension  began  early  ;  and  so  gradually 
did  their  deadly  error  overspread  them,  that  Boston  was 
not  conscious  of  the  change  until  it  was  incautiously  dis- 
closed by  an  English  brother.  It  was  then  found,  on  in- 
quiry, that  "  in  Boston  every  thing  was  gone  except  the 
old  South  Meeting;  and,  within  a  radius  of  fifteen  miles, 
not  ten  ministers  could  be  found  of  the  Congregational 
order  holding  the  '  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.'  "f 

Against  such  declensions  the  presence  of  the  Church  is, 
imder  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  an  appointed  safe- 
guard. From  the  excitements  which  sweep  at  times  over 
the  sects,  burning  all  to-day  with  an  intemperate  heat, 
and  leaving  all  behind  them  waste  and  bare,  even  those 
amongst  her  pastors  have  been  free,  who,  from  warmth  of 
natural  temper  or  doctrinal  views,  have  most  addressed 
themselves  to  the  religious  feelings  of  their  flock.  $  And 
thus  not  only  have  they  withheld  from  their  own  people 
these  withering  blights,  but  they  have  done  much  for  all 
denominations  round  them.  It  was  the  remark  of  a  So- 
cinian  gentleman,  from  Massachusetts,  as  floating  down 
the    Connecticut  river  (in    1834),  he  noticed  the  Episco- 

*  Buckingham's  America,  vol.  iii.  p.  450. 

f  Reed  and  Matheson,  ut  sup. 

X  Life  of  Bp.  Moore  of  Virginia,  by  Dr.  Henshaw,  p.  101. 


DUELS.  293 

pal  churches  on  each  side  the  stream.  "  If  those  churches 
had  been  in  Massachusetts,  there  would  have  been  few 
Unitarians."*  The  influence  thus  exercised  can  scarcely  be 
over-rated.  It  breaks  out  visibly  in  smaller  things, — as  in 
the  universal  observance  of  Good  Friday  in  Connecticut, 
from  deference  to  Churchmen,! — and  in  greater  matters 
is  always  in  action.  The  fixed  creed  of  the  Church,  its 
settled  liturgy,  its  decent  and  reverent  forms,  its  educated 
ministry,  its  tone  of  practical  reality ;  those  are  felt  con- 
tinually as  restraints  to  some,  and  patterns  to  others. 
Amidst  the  madness  of  the  angry  waves,  one  bark  holds 
its  anchorage,  and  becomes  to  those  around  it  a  witness  for 
fixedness  and  truth. 

On  the  general  character  of  society  it  exerts  continual 
influence.  Throughout  the  states  it  ranks  amongst  its 
members  those  who,  from  position  and  superior  education, 
must  ultimately  fix  the  standard  of  feeling  :  and  against 
some  of  the  great  evils  which  infect  American  society  it 
has  raised  its  solemn  and  not  wholly  ineflectual  protest. 

Thus,  to  take  one  example  :  duels,  such  as  barbarous 
times  can  scarcely  parallel,  are  not  uncommon  in  America. 
Utterly  unchristian  as  are  those  we  know  in  England,  they 
are  wholly  of  another  character  from  these,  of*vvhich  ven- 
geance and  the  thirst  for  blood  are  undisguised  features. 
How  little  public  opinion  has  as  yet  condemned  them,  a 
single  narrative  will  show.  It  is  a  rule  of  Congress  that 
when  any  member  dies  during  the  sitting  of  the  houses,  he 
shall  be  honored  with  a  public  funeral.  During  the  win- 
ter session  of  1838,  two  members  of  the  house  of  represen- 
tatives at  Washington  quarrelled,  and  met  to  fight  a  duel. 
Rifles  were,  as  is  usual,  the  selected  weapons.  At  a  dis- 
tance of  eighty  yards  they  exchanged  fire  without  eflect. 
After  an  hour's  pause  they  were  placed  again,  and  each 
taking  deliberate  aim,  fired  a  second  time  with  the  same  re- 
sult. A  longer  pause  than  the  preceding  followed,  during 
which  it  was  arranged,  that  if  at  the  next  fire  neither  party 
were  killed  or  wounded,  the  distance  between  them  should 
be  shortened.     No  such  precaution,  however,  was  needful 

•  Caswall's  America,  p.  149.  f  lb.  p.  145. 


294  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

to  secure  the  necessary  bloodshed,  for  at  the  next  fire  the 
receiver  of"  the  challenge  lell,  and  died  within  five  minutes. 
Three  days  later  the  senators  and  whole  population  of  the 
town,  male  and  female,  "  the  ladies  thronging  the  galle- 
ries," filled  the  hall  of  representatives,  to  honor  the  fallen 
duellist  with  a  public  funeral.  At  twelve  o'clock  the 
speaker  of  the  house  was  seate  d  in  the  chair,  the  bier  be- 
fore him,  whilst  the  members,  the  judges  of  the  supreme 
court,  the  heads  of  departments,  the  secretaries  of  state, 
and  the  president  and  vice-president  of  the  United  States, 
lined  the  hall  around  the  coffin.  Then  came  the  mum- 
mery of  religion,  with  "  appropriate  extemporaneous  pray- 
ers from  the  chaplain  of  the  senate,"  and  then  "  a  funeral 
address  by  the  chaplain  of  the  house  of  representatives."* 
Both  the  chaplains  were  Methodists  of  diflerent  kinds  ; 
and  it  was  but  a  sorry  sacrifice  to  violated  principle,  that 
the  honor  of  the  public  funeral  should  be  clouded  by  an  un- 
avoidable censure  upon  duelling,  in  the  funeral  address. 
Far  diflerent  has  been  the  conduct  of  the  Church  as  to 
this  system  of  detestable  enormities.  As  early  as  1808, 
convention  had  resolved,  "  That  the  ministers  of  this  Church 
ought  not  to  perform  the  funeral  service  in  the  case  of  any 
person  wh«  shall  give  or  accept  a  challenge  to  a  duel."! 
This  raised  a  new  standard,  and  from  this  we  do  not  find 
them  shrinking.  Such  an  instance  stands  on  record  in 
Bishop  Hobart's  correspondence.  "  I  have  been  severely 
tried" — one  of  his  friends  writes  to  him  :  "it  has  pleased 
the  Almighty,  in  the  order  of  His  providence,  to  exact  from 
me  a  proof  of  fidelity  to  His  commands.  Adversity  has 
come  on  me  in  the  hideous  form  of  dishonor  :  it  has  struck 

me  where  I  was  most  exposed For  one  accustomed, 

as  I  have  been,  to  the  applause  of  the  world,  on  >vhose  ear 
the  voice  of  censure  has  scarcely  ever  come  in  the  slightest 
whisper,  to  be  denounced  by  a  man  who  has  filled  the  se- 
cond command  in  our  Virginian  army,  and  a  seat  in  the 
senate  of  the  United  States,  as   a   hypocrite  and   coward, 

*  J.  S.  Buckingham's  America,  vol.  i.  pp.  272,  273. 

f  Journals  of  Convention  of  1816,  p.  254.  This  was  modified  in 
the  Convention,  but  only  so  far  as  to  withdraw  the  application  of  the 
resolution  from  those  who  had  since  manifested  penitence. 


DIVORCE.  295 

without  beinfr  alloM'ed  to  repel  the   latter  charge  but  by 

confirming  tlie  former to  be  thus  perseculed,  is  a 

trial  which  iias  required  all  my  piety  to  sustain  without 

sinking  beneath  it I  am  justly  though   severely 

chastised  :  I  bow  submissiA'^ely  to  the  Cross,  where  my 
Saviour  ignorainiously  expired.  Blessed  Jesus,  inspire  Thy 
poor  follower  with  the  hurnilily  which  illustrated  Thy  life, 
Thy  sufierings,  and  Thy  death."* 

One  such  testimony  against  this  unchristian  custom  is 
beyond  all  price  in  a  land  so  governed  by  opinion  as  the 
United  tStates. 

These,  and  many  more,  arc  the  favorable  features  of 
the  picture.  There  are  others  of  a  different  character, — 
and  *hey  must  not  be  withheld.  And  to  touch  first  on  a 
subject  Avhich  has  always  been  an  especial  charge  of  the 
Christian  Church  ;  she  has  not  in  America  maintained  the 
outworks  of  domestic  purity,  by  guarding  carefully  the 
sanctity  of  holy  matrimony.  Divorces  are  allowed  on  slight 
and  insufficient  grounds.!  To  divorce  liis  wife,  or  even  to 
fail  in  the  attempt  to  obtain  a  divorce  from  the  state, 
would  not  greatly  impair  the  reputation,  even  of  one  in  holy 
orders.  Ou  this  point  the  Roman  Catholics  in  America 
have  maintained  a  Christian  strictness  on  which  the  Pro- 
testant communion  has  never  ventured.  Allied  to  tliis  are 
many  kindred  llaws  ;  marriages  are  pubhciy  allowed  with- 
in some  at  least  of  the  prohibited  degrees  ;  the  divorced 
are  speedily  re-married  ;  and  their  second  nuptials  labor 
under  no  reproach.     Again,  amongst  our  western  brethren, 


«  jrVickar'3  Life  of  Bishop  Hobart,pp.  45*7,  45S. 

f  The  facility  with  which  divorces  are  obtained  in  some  states  is 
illustrated  by  a  fact,  mentioned  to  the  author  by  a  friend  (the  Rev. 
H.  Caswall).  which  would  be  highly  ludicrous,  if  it  did  not  involve 
such  serious  considerations.  An  aged  couple  in  Kentucky,  remark- 
able for  their  long-continued  domestic  happiness,  were  marked  out 
for  a  practical  joke.  A  petition  was  sent  into  the  state-legislature, 
prayi!>{»,  on  some  trivial  ground  for  a  divorce.  The  bill  passed  un- 
oppose  1 ;  and  in  th.ree  weeks,  to  tlieir  horror,  they  found  themselves 
divorced :  they  absolutely  separated,  the  wife  returning  to  her 
frier.  !s,  and  were  afterwards  solemnly  re-married. — Perhaps  it  may 
not  be  safe  to  draw  any  very  broad  iaference  from  such  an  incident 
as  this. 


296  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  marriage  ceremonial  is  rarely  performed  within  the 
chnrch  :  a  private  room,  and  often  a  late  hour  in  the  day, 
are  its  usual  place  and  time,  to  the  grievous  loss  of  rever- 
ential decency. 

And  now  to  turn  to  a  subject  less  exclusively  ecclesias- 
tical. In  forming  an  estimate  of  the  moral  influence  of  the 
Episcopalian  body,  we  cannot  fail  to  notice  its  bearing  on 
the  treatment  of  the  colored  race.  This  is  in  America  the 
great  question  of  the  present  generation  :  socially,  politi- 
cally, morally,  religiously,  there  is  none  which  can  compare 
with  it.  Never  in  the  history  of  any  people  was  the 
righteous  retribution  of  the  holy  and  living  Grod  more  dis- 
tinctly marked  than  in  the  manifold  evils  which  now 
trouble  America  for  her  treatment  of  the  African  race. 
Like  all  other  sinful  courses,  it  has  brought  in,  day  by  day, 
confusion  and  entanglement  into  all  the  relations  of  those 
contaminated  by  it.  It  is  the  cause  which  threatens  to 
disorganise  the  union  ;  it  is  the  cause  which  upholds  the 
power  of  mobs  and  "  Lynching ;  "  it  is  the  occasion  of 
bloodshed  and  violated  law  ;  it  is,  throughout  the  south, 
the  destroyer  of  family  purity,  the  hindrance  to  the  growth 
of  civilization  and  refinement ;  it  is  the  one  weak  point  of 
America  as  a  nation,  exposing  her  to  the  deadliest  internal 
strife,  that  of  an  internecine  war,  whenever  a  foreign 
enemy  should  find  it  suit  his  purpose  to  arm  the  blacks 
against  their  masters.  Further,  like  all  other  great  and 
established  evils,  it  is  most  difficult  to  devise  any  escape 
out  of  the  coils  which  it  has  already  wound  around  every 
civil  and  social  institution  ;  whilst  every  day  of  its  per- 
mitted continuance  both  aggravates  the  evil,  and  increases 
the  difficulty  of  its  ultimate  removal.  This,  then,  is  ex- 
actly one  of  those  sore  evils  of  which  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  the  appointed  healer.  She  must,  in  His  name,  rebuke 
this  vmclean  Spirit :  she  who  has  been  at  all  times  the 
best  adjuster  of  the  balance  between  the  rich  and  poor, 
between  those  who  have  and  those  who  want ;  she  who 
has  redressed  the  wrongs  of  those  who  have  no  helper  ; 
she  who,  M^ierever  she  has  settled,  has  changed  slaves  or 
serfs,  by  whatever  title  they  are  known,  into  freemen  and 
peasants  ; — she  must  do  this  in  the  west,  or  the  salt  of  the 


EVILS    OF    SLAVERY.  297 

eavth  hath  lost  its  savor,  and  is  given  over,  with  all  things 
around,  to  the  wasting  oi"  that  utter  and  extreme  corrup- 
tion which  she  should  have  arrested. 

Now,  to  see  how  far  the  Church  has  fulfilled  this  her 
vocation,  we  must  have  distinctly  before  us  the  real  pos- 
ture of  this  question  in  America.  Of  the  twenty-six  states, 
thirteen  are  slave-states  ;  admitting,  that  is,  within  their 
own  borders,  the  institution  of  slavery  as  a  part  of  their 
institutions  ;  and  of  these,  five — Maryland,  Virginia,  Ken- 
tucky, Missouri,  and,  in  part,  Tennessee — are  slave-selling, 
whilst  those  south  of  them  are  slave-buying  states. 

It  will,  therefore,  be  seen  at  once,  that  in  the  various 
districts  of  the  union  widely  different  parts  of  the  system 
are  at  work.  But  its  curse  is  upon  all.  Chiefly  does  it 
rest  upon  the  south.  There,  to  his  own,  and  little  less 
to  his  master's  degradation,  the  slave  is  held  in  direct 
personal  bondage,  and  accounted  merely  as  a  chattel. 
Hence,  at  the  caprice  of  his  owner,  he  is  treated  not  unfre- 
quently  witli.  fearful  cruelty  :  though  these,  it  may  be 
granted,  are  not  the  ordinary  cases  ;  since,  except  under 
the  impulses  of  passion,  no  rational  owner  will  misuse  his 
own  chattels.  It  is  not,  therefore,  for  these  instances  of 
cruelty,  fearful  as  they  occasionally  are,  that  the  system 
will  be  cliieily  odious  in  the  Christian's   eyes.*     Nor  will 

*  Not  to  quote  any  of  those  occasional  barbarities  which  may  be 
turned  in  some  measure  aside  as  extreme  cases,  it  is  impossible  to 
denv  the  ordinary  cruelt}'  of  the  system,  when  every  southern  news- 
paper abounds  in  such  advertisements  as  these  :  "  Ten  dollars  re- 
ward for  my  woman  Siby,  very  much  scarred  about  the  neck  and 
ears  by  whipping."  Mobile  Commercial  Advertiser. — "  Committed 
to  jail,  a  negro  slave  ;  his  back  is  very  badly  scarred."  Planters' 
Intelligencer,  Sept.  26,  1838. — "  Runaway,  negress  Caroline  ;  had  on 
a  collar  with  one  prong  turned  down."  Bee,  Oct.  27,  1837. — "  De- 
tained at  the  police  jail  the  negro  wench  Myra;  has  several  marks 
of  lashing,  and  has  irons  on  lier  feet."  Bee,  June  9.  1838. — "  Run- 
away, a  negro  woman  and  two  children.  A  few  days  before  she 
went  off,  I  burnt  her  with  a  hot  iron  on  the  left  side  of  her  face  ;  I 
tried  to  make  the   letter  M."     Standard,  July  18,  1838.— "  Brought 

to  jail,  .John ,  left  ear  cropt."     Macon  Telegraph,  Dec.  25. 

1837. — "  Runaway,  a  negro,  name  Humbledon  ;  limps  on  his  left 
foot,  where  he  was  shot  a  few  weeks  ago  while  a  runaway."    Vicks- 
burg  Register,  Sept.  6,  1838. — "  Runaway,  a  black  woman ;  has  a 
13* 


298  AMERICAN   CHURCH 

it  be  from  any  notions  of  the  abstract  and  inalienable  rigbta 
of  man.  On  these,  in  their  common  signification  of  the 
possession  of  political  power,  we  do  not  touch  ;  it  is  with 
the  want  of  personal  freedom  we  are  concerned  ;  nor  is  it 
needful  to  assert,  that  slavery  is,  under  all  circumstances, 
directly  forbidden  by  the  law  of  God.  It  is  enough  for  our 
purpose,  that  as  administered  in  America,  it  is  a  violation 
of  the  Christian  precept,  "  Honor  all  men."  That  by 
its  denial  of  all  family  life,  its  necessary  irreligion,  and  its 
enforced  ignorance,  it  deprives  the  slave  of  the  privileges 
of  redeemed  humanity,  and  is  directly  opposed  to  the  idea 
of  the  Christian  revelation.  To  maintain  this  ground  it 
is  not  necessary  to  assert  that  no  slaves  are  happy  in 
their  servitude.  For  the  happiest  slave  in  American  ser- 
vitude is  the  greatest  proof  of  the  evil  of  the  system.  He 
is  most  utterly  debased  by  it,  who  can  be  happy  in  such  a 
state.  What  that  state  is  is  plain  enough.  The  common  lan- 
guage of  the  slave-states,  which  has  given  to  all  those 
who  labor  the  title  of  "mean  whites,"  is  abundant  proof 
of  their  own  estimate  of  slavery.  But,  further,  as  a  general 
rule,  the  slave  is  not  hajipy.  The  advocates  of  the  system 
confess  this  in  a  thousand  ways.  Their  columns  of  adver- 
tisements for  runaways,  their  severe  laws  against  those 
who  aid  or  harbor  fugitives,  their  occasional  gifts  of  liberty 
to  slaves  who  have  wrought  some  great  act  of  public 
good,  their  fierce  jealousy  of  all  speech  or  action  which 
threatens  ever  so  remotely  their  property  in  man,  all  be- 
speak the  same  secret  conviction  : — they  do  know  the 
misery  of  slavery.  The  testimony  of  the  Canadian  ferry- 
man,* who  described  the  leap  of  the  escaped  slave,  when 
the  boat  reaches  the  British  shore,  as  unlike  any  other,  is 
not  more  directly  to  the  point. 

Accordingly,  the  master-evil  of  the  south  is,  that  the 
slaves  are  not  treated  as  having  souls ;  they  are  often  petted, 
often  treated  like  spoiled  children,  never  as  men.  On  this 
point  there  is  no  dispute.  "  Generally  speaking  they  are 
a  nation  of  heathen  in  the  midst  of  the   land.     They  are 

scar  on  her  back  and  right  arm,  caused   by   a  rifle-ball.     Natchez 
Courier,  June  15,  1832. 
*  Retrospect  of  Western  Travel,  vol.  L  p.  114. 


MORALS   OF    SLAVERY.  299 

without  hope  and  witliout  God  in  the  world."*  "  They 
have  no  bible  to  read  by  their  own  firesides  ;  they  have  no 
family-altars  ;  and  when  in  affliction,  sickness,  or  death, 
they  have  no  minister  to  address  to  them  the  consolations 
of  the  gospel. "t  They  are  destitute  of  the  privileges  of 
the  gospel,  and  ever  will  be,  under  the  present  state  of 
things.  They  may  justly  be  considered  the  heathen  of 
this  country,  and  will  bear  a  comparison  with  heathen  in 
any  country  in  the  world. 'J  "  Throughout  the  bounds  of 
the  Charleston  8ynod  there  are  at  least  one  hundred  thou- 
sand slaves,  speaking  the  same  language  as  the  whites, 
who  have  never  heard  of  the  plan  of  salvation  by  a  Re- 
deemer."s^  And  this  is  the  fruit  of  no  accident, — it  is 
inherent  in  the  system.  The  black  must  be  depressed  be- 
low the  level  of  humanity  1o  be  kept  down  to  his  condition. 
On  this  system  his  master  dare  not  treat  him  as  a  man. 
To  teach  slaves  to  read  is  forbidden  under  the  severest 
penalties  in  almost  every  slave-state.  In  North  Carolina, 
to  teach  a  slave  to  read  or  write,  or  give  him  any  book 
(the  Bible  not  excepted),  is  ])unished  with  thirty-nine 
lashes  or  imprisonment,  il'  the  offender  be  a  ^-ee  negro  ; 
with  a  fine  of  200  dollars  if  he  bo  a  white.  In  Georgia 
this  fine  is  500  dollars  ;  and  the  lather  is  not  suffered  to 
teach  his  own  half-caste  child  to  read  the  Scriptures.il 

The  moral  state  of  such  a  population  need  not  be  de- 
picted. The  habit  of  despising  the  true  redeemed  human- 
ity in  those  around  them  grows  always  upon  the  licentious 
and  the  covetous,  as  they  allow  themselves  to  use  their 
fellows  as  the  mere  instruments  of  their  gain  or  pleasure; 
and  in  the  slave-states  this  evil  habit  reigns  supreme.  The 
quadroonlF  girls  are  educated  in  the  south  to  live  m  bonds 

*  Sermon  by  Rev.  C.  C.  Jones,  preached  in  Georgia  before  two 
associanons  of  planters,  1831. 

f  Report  in  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  1833. 

X  Report  of  the  Synod  of  ^iith  Carolina  and  Georgia,  to  whom 
was  referred  the  subject  of  the  religioud  instruction  of  the  colored 
population,  1834. 

§  Charleston  S.  C.  Observer. 

I  C;i?te  and  Slavery  in  the  American  Church,  p.  21 ;  a  noble  and 
heart-stirring  protest. 

^  The  mixed  breed  of  the  third  generation. 


300  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

of  shame  wltli  their  white  masters.  With  the  slave-popula- 
tion itselfthe  licentiousness  of  the  whites  is  utterly  unbridled  ; 
and  by  this,  all  the  ties  of  nature  are  dissolved.  Family- 
life  amongst  the  slaves  cannot  exist ;  its  fountains  are  al- 
ways liable  to  be  poisoned  by  arbitrary  power.  White  fa- 
thers view  their  own  slave-born  children  as  chattels.  They 
work,  they  sell  them.  By  law  they  cannot  teach  them,  or 
set  them  free  ;  for  the  jealousy  of  slave-state  legislation 
lays  it  down  as  a  iirst  principle,  that  every  slave  must  have 
a  master  "  to  see  to  him." 

Here;  then,  in  brief,  is  the  curse  of  the  southern-most 
or  slave-buying  states  ; — the  holding  property  in  man,  keep- 
ing men  in  servile  bondage,  using  persons  as  things,  re- 
deemed men  as  soulless  chattels ; — ^this  is  its  essence. 
Here  the  testimony  of  the  Church  must  be  against  this  first 
vicious  jirinciple.  This  has  been  the  example  set  to  God's 
witnesses  in  this  generation  by  their  fathers  in  the  faith. 
They  protested  against  such  dominant  iniquities,  and  they 
delivered  their  own  souls,  and  saved  us  their  children  from 
the  eating  canker  of  a  blood-stained  inheritance.  "Let  no 
man  from Jienceforth,"  said  the  Christian  Council  of  Lon- 
don, in  1102*  "  presume  to  carry  on  that  wicked  traffic, 
by  which  men  in  England  have  been  hitherto  sold  like 
brute  animals."  This  must  be  the  Church's  rule  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  as  it  was  on  those  of  the  Thames. 
So  much  for  the  extreme  south. 

As  we  come  one  degree  northward,  other  features  meet 
us.  In  the  slave-selling  states  there  is  added  to  the  evils 
of  the  south  the  execrable  trade  of  breeding  slaves  for  sale. 
By  it  "  the  '  Ancient  Dominion'  is  converted  into  one  grand 
menagerie,  where  men  are  reared  for  the  market  like  oxen 
for  the  shambles."!  This  is  no  figure  of  speech.  The 
number  of  slaves  exported,  from  Virginia  alone,  for  sale  in 
the  southern  states,  in  one   year,    1835-36,  amounted  to 

*  "Concilium  Loiidiaense,  a.  d.  1^9^,  reg.  Augliae  Hen.  I.  3,  sta- 
tutum  est:  xxviii.  Nequis  illud  nefarium  negotium,  quo  hacteiius 
homines  in  Anglia  solebaiit  velutbrutaanimalia  venundari,  deiuceps 
ullatenus  facere  praesumat." — Wilkins,  Concilia,  vol.  i.  p.  383. 

f  Speecli  of  Tliomas  Jefferson  Randolph  in  the  legislature  of  Vir- 
ginia in  1832. 


SLAVE-BREEDING    STATES.  3Q1 

forty  thousand  ;*  whilst  those  imported  from  all  quarters 
into  the  states  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  Ar- 
kansas, were  reckoned  in  the  year  1836  as  not  lewer  than 
25, 000. t  "  Dealing  in  slaves,"  says  a  Baltimore  news- 
papert  of  1829,  "  has  become  a  large  business  ;  estabhsh- 
meuts  are  made  in  several  places  in  Maryland  and  Virgi- 
nia, at  which  they  are  sold  like  cattle  :  these  places  of 
deposit  are  strongly  built,  and  well  supplied  with  iron 
thumb-screws  and  gags." 

The  abominations  of  this  trade  must  not  pollute  these 
pages.  They  may  be  readily  conceived.  But  as  a  neces- 
sary part  of  such  a  traffic,  an  internal  slave-trade,  with  its 
well-known  horrors,  re-commences.  Here  are  slave-auc- 
tions, with  all  their  instant  degradation,  and  all  their  con- 
sequent destruction  of  family  and  social  life.§     Here  are 

*  Virginia  Times.  f  Natchez  Courier. 

X  The  Baltimore  (Maryland)  Register. 

§  One  incident  will  tell  this  whole  talc.  "A  gentleman  of  "Virgi- 
nia sold  a  female  slave.  The  party  professing  to  buy  not  being  pre- 
pared to  make  the  necessary  payment,  the  slave  was  to  be  re-sold. 
A  concealed  agent  of  the  trade  bought  lier  aud  her  two  children,  as 
for  his  own  sers^ice ;  where  her  husband,  also  a  slave  in  the  town, 
might  visit  lier  and  tliem.  Botii  the  husband  and  wife  suspected 
that  she  would  be  privately  sent  away.  The  husband,  in  their  com- 
mon agony,  offered  to  be  sold,  that  he  might  go  with  her.  This  was 
declined.  He  resolved  on  the  la^t  effort,  of  assisting  her  to  escape. 
That  he  might  lay  suspicion  asleep,  he  went  to  take  leave  of  her 
and  bis  children,  and  appeared  to  resign  liiinself  to  the  event.  This 
movement  had  its  desired  effect ;  suspicion  was  withdrawn  both  from 
him  and  his  wife,  and  he  succeeded  in  emancipating  them.  Still, 
what  was  to  be  done  with  his  treasure,  now  he  had  obtained  it  ? 
Flight  was  impossible,  and  nothing  remained  but  concealment;  and 
concealment  seemed  hopeless,  for  no  place  would  be  left  unsearch- 
ed,  and  putiishment  would  fall  on  the  party  who  should  give  them 
shelter.  However,  they  were  missing ;  and  they  were  sought  for 
diligently,  but  not  found.  Some  month's  afterwards,  it  was  casually 
ob-erved  that  the  floor  under  a  slave's  bed  (the  sister  of  the  man) 
looked  dirty  and  greasy.  A  board  was  taken  up,  and  there  lay  the 
mother  and  her  children  on  the  clay,  and  in  an  e.xcavation  of  three 
feet  by  five  !  It  is  averred  that  they  had  been  there  in  a  cold  and 
enclosed  space,  hardly  large  enough  for  their  cofTm  (buried  aUve 
tliere),  for  six  months  ! 

"  Tiiis  is  not  all.     The  agent  was  onlj^  provoked  by  this  circum- 
stance !     He   demanded  the  woman ;  and  though  every  one  was 


302  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

droves  of  chaiiied  negroes  marched  under  the  whip,  two 
and  two,  from  the  breeding  district  of  Virginia  to  the  la- 
bor-markets of  Georgia  and  Alabama. 

Here,  then,  as  in  the  farther  south,  the  testimony  of 
the  Church  must  be  uncomproiTiising  and  explicit.  No 
motives  of  supposed  expediency,  no  possible  amount  of  dan- 
ger, can  justify  her  silence.  She  is  set  to  bear  a  witness  ; 
a  witness  against  the  evils  around  her  ;  a  witness  at  all 
hazards ;  a  witness  to  be  at  any  time  attested,  if  so  it  needs 
must  be,  by  bearing  any  amount  of  persecution.  SShe  and 
she  only  can  do  this.  The  exceeding  jealousy  of  the  seve- 
ral states  makes  them  resent  with  peculiar  warmth  any 
interference  from  without.  The  regulation  of  its  internal 
concerns,  and  so  the  whole  continuance  and  system  of  south- 
ern slavery , is  solely  under  the  j  urisdiction  of  the  several  states. 
Congress  cannot  mitigate,  much  less  abolish  it.  It  can  come 
before  Congress  only  incidentally, — as,  for  instance,  on  the 
question  of  admitting  a  new  slave-state  into  the  union. 
Even  moral  influence  from  without  is  bitterly  resented  by 
the  south.  This  is  its  ground  of  quarrel  with  the  aboli- 
tion-societies ;  with  which  the  general  government  has  so 
far  sympathised  as  to  leave  unredressed  the  violation  of  the 
southern  post-office,  whereby  abolition-papers  ai'e  uniformly 
excluded  from  the  south.  Thus,  at  this  moment,  improve- 
ment can  only  arise  from  a  higher  standard  of  internal 
principle  on  this  great  question.  This  it  is  the  business  of 
the  Church  to  create.  She  must  assert  her  Catholic  cha- 
racter on  behalf  of  these  unhappy  cast-aways.  In  other 
respects,  there  is  no  country  upon  earth  so  fitted  by  pre-dis- 
posing  elements  for  uniting  in  one  visible  body  all  the  com- 
pany of  Christ's  redeemed  Gathered,  as  they  are,  from 
all  countries,  Americans  are  made  partakers,  even  from  na- 
tural causes,  of  a  common  political  and  social  life.  The 
strong  lethargic  common  sense  of  the  Dutch  and  the  gay 
vivacity  of  the  French,  the  phlegm  of  the  German  and  the 
buoyant  thoughtlessness  of  the  Irish,  the  shrewd  money- 
clamorous  to  redeem  her  and  retLirn  her  to  her  hushand,  he  would  not 
sell !  She  was  taken  to  his  slave-pen,  and  has  disappeared  !  The 
man — most  miserable  man  ! — still  exists  in  the  town."  Drs.  Reed 
and  Matheson,  ut  supra,  vol.  ii.  p.  188. 


DOES   THE    CHURCH   PROTEST?  303 

getting  temper  of  the  Yankee  and  the  hospitable  elej^ance 
of  the  southei'n  gentleman, — are  all  hei'e  fused  into  one 
common  mass.  From  this  universal  brotherhood  the 
African  alone  is  shut  altogether  out.  Him  the  Church 
must  take  by  the  hand,  and  owning  him  as  one  of  Christ's 
body,  must  lead  him  into  the  family  of  man.  Not  that 
she  is  bound  to  preach  insurrection  and  rebellion.  Far  from 
it.  It  is  quite  easy  to  enforce  upon  the  slave  his  duties, 
under  a  system,  the  unrighteousness  of  which  is,  at  the  same 
time,  clearly  stated.  His  bonds  are  illegal  ;  but  it  is  God's 
arm,  and  not  his  own  violence,  which  must  break  them. 
Let  the  clergy  of  the  south  preach  submission  to  the  slave, 
if  at  the  same  time  they  declare  to  his  master  that  these, 
for  whom  Christ  died,  are  now  no  longer  slaves,  but  breth- 
ren beloved  ;*  and  that  a  system  which  withholds  from 
them  their  Christian  birthright  is  utterly  unlawful  ;  that 
it  is  one  which  the  master,  not  the  slave,  is  bound  to  set 
himself  honestly  to  sweep  away.  Above  all  should  they, 
at  any  cost  and  by  any  sacrifice,  protest  in  life  and  by  act 
against  this  grievous  wrong.  The  greater  the  cost,  and  the 
more  painful  the  sacrifice,  the  clearer  will  be  their  testi- 
mony, and  the  more  it  will  avail  :  to  them  it  is  given  not 
only  to  believe  in  Christ,  but  also  to  suffer  for  His  sake. 

AVhat  witness,  then,  has  as  yet  been  borne  by  the 
Church  in  these  slave-states  against  this  almost  universal 
sin?  How  has  she  fulfilled  her  vocation?  She  raises  no 
voice  against  the  predominant  evil;  she  palliates  it  in 
theory ;  and  in  practice  she  shares  in  it.  The  mildest  and 
most  conscientious  of  the  bishops  of  the  south  are  slave- 
holders themselves.  Bishop  Moore  of  Virginia  writes  to 
Bishop  Raveuscroft  :t  "The  good  and  excellent  girl  pre- 
sented to  my  daughter  by  Mrs.  Ravenscroft  paid  the  debt 
of  nature  on  the  4th."  She  was  treated,  it  is  true,  with 
all  the  indulgence  which  she  could  receive,  but  still,  favor- 
ite as  she  was,  she  was  a  slave ;  and,  after  her  death,  was 
laid  "in  the  colored  burial-ground,  which  is  not  enclosed, 
and  therefore  much  exposed,   and   where  the  grave   was 

*  "  Not  now  as  a  servant  (lit.  a  slave,  SbwAoj,)  but  above  a  servant 
a  brother  beloved."     Philemon  16. 
t  Life  of  Bishop  Moore,  p.  282. 


304  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

liable  to  be  disturbed."  This  is  no  rare  instance.  The 
Bishop  of  Georgia  has  openly  proposed  to  maintain  "  the 
Montpelier  Institute"  by  the  produce  of  slave-labor,  and 
"  The  Spirit  of  Missions,"  edited  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Church,  and  under  the  eye  of  the  bishop  (Onderdoiik)  of 
New- York,  proposes  to  endow  a  mission-school  in  Louisi- 
ana, with  a  plantation  to  be  worked  by  slaves,  who  should 
be  encouraged  to  redeem  themselves  by  extra  hours  of  labor, 
before  day  in  the  morning  and  after  night  in  the  evening ; 
and  should,  when  thus  redeemed,  be  transported  to  Liberia, 
and  the  price  received  for  them  laid  out  in  "purchasing  in 
Virginia  or  Carolina  a  gang  of  people  who  may  be  nearly 
double  the  number  of  those  sent  away."* 

Nor  are  these  merely  evil  practices  into  which,  vuia- 
wares  and  against  their  principles,  these  men  have  fallen. 
In  a  sermon  preached  before  the  Bishop  of  North  Carolina 
in  1834,  and  published  with  his  special  commendation,  it 
is  openly  asserted,  that  "no  man  or  set  of  men  are  entitled 
to  pronounce  slavery  wrong ;  and  we  may  add,  that  as  it 
exists  in  the  present  day  it  is  agreeable  to  the  order  of  Divine 
Providence;"  whilst  the  Bishop  of  South  Carolina,t  in  an 
address  to  the  convention  of  his  diocese,  denounced  "the 
malignant  philanthropy  of  abolition." 

Such  are  the  feari'ul  features  of  the  life  of  Churchmen 
in  the  south.  Nor  is  it  any  real  lessening  of  this  guilt  to 
say  that  it  is  shared  by  all  the  Christian  sects.  The  cliarge 
is,  indeed,  far  too  nearly  true.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
evils  of  the  system  may  be  found  still  ranker  and  more 
gross  amidst  the  prevailing  sects  of  Baptists,  Independents, 
Methodists,  and  Presbyterians. |  But  this  is  no  excuse.  It 
is  the  first  duty  of  the  Church  to  reprove  the  sins  of  others, 
not  to  adopt  them  into  her  own  practice ;  to  set,  and  not 
to  take  the  tone.  The  cruelty  of  their  tender  mercies 
should  lead  her  to  speak  out  more  plainly ;  it  should  ibrce 
her  zealously  to  cleanse  herself  from  their  stain,  and  then 
fearlessly  leave  the  issue  to  her  God.  But  she  is  silent 
here ;   and  to  her  greater  shame  it  must  be  added,  that 

*  Caste  and  Slavery,  p.  34.  f  Bishop  Bowen. 

X  Vide  Slavery   and   the   Internal   Slave-trade  in  America,  pp. 
133-145,  for  horrors  with  which  these  pages  shall  not  be  polluted. 


EFFECT    OF    SLAVTSRY    ON    THE    FREE    STATES.  305 

there  are  sects*  which  do  maintain  the  witness  she  has 
feared  to  bear. 

But  further :  as  has  been  ah'eady  said,  this  chnging 
curse  reaches  even  to  the  free  states  of  the  north,  though 
it  assumes  in  them  another  form.  In  them  it  leads  to  the 
treatment  of  the  colored  race  with  deep  and  continual  in- 
dignity. They  cannot  be  held  in  personal  bondage,  but 
they  are  of  the  servile  class ;  they  may  be  claimed  as 
runaways,  and  thus  dragged,  if  not  kidnapped,  to  southern 
slavery. 

A  mingled  scorn  and  hatred  of  the  colored  man  per- 
vades every  usage  of  society.  In  the  courts  of  law  his 
testimony  is  not  equally  received  with  the  white  man's 
evidence  ;t  republican  jealousy  forgets  its  usual  vigilance, 
in  order  to  deny  him  his  equal  vote  ;  he  may  be  expelled 
with  insult  from  the  public  vehicle  ;  he  must  sit  apart  in 
the  public  assembly  ;  and  though  no  tinge  of  remaining 
shade  may  darken  his  cheek,  yet  a  traditional  descent  from 
colored  blood  will  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  wed  with 
any  of  the  European  race.  Even  in  the  fierce  heat  of  the 
"  revivals"  this  supreme  law  of  separation  is  never  for  a 
moment  overlooked.  There  are  different  "  pens  "  for  the 
white  and  colored  subjects  of  this  common  enthusiasm.  On 
all  these  points  feehng  runs  higher  in  the  free  north  than 
ill  the  slave-states  of  the  south.     There  the  dominion  of 

*  The  Quakers,  and  four  small  sects,  the  Reformed  Presbyterians, 
United  Brethren,  Primitive  Methodists,  and  Emancipation  Baptists. 
Slavery  and  the  Internal  Slave-Trade  in  America,  p.  1,32. 

The  annual  conference  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Marj'land  and 
Virginia  passed,  in  18.39,  the  following  resolution:  "It  appeared  in 
evidence  that  Moses  Michael  was  the  owner  of  a  female  slave,  which 
is  contrary  to  the  discipline  of  our  Church.  Conference  therefore 
resolved,  that  unless  brother  Michael  manumit  or  set  free  such  slave 
in  six  months,  he  no  longer  be  considered  a  member  of  our  Church." 
American  Churches  the  Bulwark  of  Slaver//,  p.  3. 

f  An  American  friend  has  made  the  following  note  on  this  state- 
ment :  "  The  testimony  of  colored  men  is  not  excluded  in  all  the  free 
states.  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  in  any.  In  Massachusetts  they  have 
the  civil  and  political  rights  of  white  men.  There  are  three  or  four 
hundred  colored  voters  in  tlie  city  of  Boston.  The  social  prejudice, 
however,  to  which  you  allude,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  very  strong ;  a 
mixed  feeling  of  aristocracy,  caste,  and  race. — Note  to  second  edition. 


'* 


306  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

the  master  is  supreme,  and  he  can  venture,  when  it  pleases 
him,  to  treat  his  slave  with  any  degree  of  intimacy  ;  for  the 
beast  of  the  field  might  with  as  high  a  probability  as  he, 
claim  equal  rights  with  man.  But  in  the  north,  where 
the  colored  race  are  free  and  often  rich,  the  galling  insults 
of  caste,  are  needful  to  keep  up  the  separation  between 
blood  and  blood ;  and  here,  therefore ,  more  than  any  where, 
its  conventional  injustice  is  supreme  ;  here,  too,  by  an  en- 
forced silence  as  to  the  crimes  of  southern  slavery,  a  guilty 
fellowship  in  its  enormities  is  too  commonly  established. 

Against  these  evils,  then,  the  Church  must  here  testify  ; 
she  must  proclaim  that  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  the  earth ;  she  must  protest  against  this  im- 
christian  system  of  caste ;  her  liyjs  must  be  unsealed  to 
denounce  God's  wrath  against  the  guilty  customs  of  the 
south.  And  what  has  been  her  conduct  ?  If  we  seek  to 
test  her  real  power  over  men's  hearts  by  asking  what  her 
influence  has  been,  we  shall  rate  it  low  indeed.  No  voice 
has  come  forth  from  her.  The  bishops  of  the  north  sit  in 
open  convention  with  their  slave-holding  brethren,  and  no 
canon  proclaims  it  contrary  to  the  discipline  of  their  Church 
to  hold  property  in  man  and  treat  him  as  a  chattel.  Nay, 
further,  the  worst  evils  of  the  world  have  found  their  way 
into  the  Church.  The  colored  race  must  worship  apart ; 
they  must  not  enter  the  white  man's  church  ;  or  if  they 
do,  they  must  be  fenced  oil"  into  a  separate  corner.  In 
some  cases  their  dust  may  not  moulder  in  the  same  ceme- 
tery. Whilst  "  all  classes  of  white  children  voluntarily 
attend  the  Sunday-schools  on  terms  of  perfect  equality."* 
any  mixture  of  African  blood  will  exclude  the  children  of 
the  wealthiest  citizen.  Recent  events  have  shown  that  all 
this  is  not  the  evil  fruit  of  an  old  custom  slowly  wearing 
itself  out ;  but  that  it  springs  from  a  living  principle  which 
is  daily  finding  for  itself  fresh  and  wider  developments. 

The  General  Theological  Seminary,  founded,  as  we 
have  seen,  at  New- York,  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
whole  Church,  was  designed  to  secure  a  general  training 
for  all  its  presbyters.  "  Every  person  producuig  to  the 
faculty,"  so  ran  its  statutes,  "satisfactory  evidence  of  his 
*  Caswall,  p.  297. 


GENERAL    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY.  307 

havinw  been  admitted  a  candidate  for  holy  orders,  with 
full  qualifications,  accordin<i:  to  the  canons  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  shall  be  received 
as  a  student  of  the  seminarj'."*  Curiosity  once  prompted 
the  question  to  Bishop  Hobart,  the  founder  of  the  seminary, 
"  whether  this  wide  rule  embraced  colored  candidates  ?" 
"  They  would  be  admitted,"  was  his  answer,  "  as  a  matter 
of  course  and  without  doubt."  Such,  alas,  is  not  the  rule 
of  his  successor  in  the  bishop's  seat.  In  June,  1839,  Alex- 
ander Crummell  applied  for  admission  :  he  came  from 
three  years'  study  at  the  Oneida  Institute,  from  sharing 
equal  rights  with  one  hundred  white  students  ;  he  brought 
with  hiai  a  character  which,  it  was  conceded,  would  war- 
rant his  admission  if  it  could  be  right  to  admit  a  colored 
man  at  all ;  he  was  rejected  for  this  single  fault ;  one 
bishop  (Doane)  alone  being  found  to  protest  against  the 
step.  Three  years  before,  a  similar  injustice  had  been 
wrought. t     Both  remain  to   this  day  unredressed.     The 

*  Statutes  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  chap.  vii.  sec.  1 
See  Act  of  Incorporation,  1836,  p.  16. 

t  The  diary  of  the  young  man  then  rejected  tells  so  simply  all 
the  tale,  that  it  is  printed  here  from  "Caste  and  Slavery,"  pp.  14, 
15:— 

"Oct.  10. — On  "Wednesday  last  I  passed  my  examination  before 
the  faculty  of  the  seminary,  and  was  thereupon  admitted  a  member 
of  the  school  of  the  prophets. 

"Oct.  11. — I  called  upon  the  bisliop,  and  he  was  dissatisfied  with 
the  step  I  had  taken  in  entering  the  seminary.  Seems  to  appre- 
hend ditficulty  from  my  joining  the  commons ;  and  tliinks  that  the 
south,  from  whence  they  receive  much  support,  will  object  to  my 
entering. 

"Tliu-;  fur  I  have  met  with  no  difficulty  from  the  students,  but 
have  been  kinilly  treated.  I  have  thought  it  judicious,  however,  to 
leave  the  commons  for  the  present. 

"As  far  as  in  me  lies  [  will,  in  ray  trouble,  let  all  my  actions  be 
consistent  with  my  Christian  profession  ;  and  instead  of  giving  loose 
to  mortitied  feelings,  will  acquiesce  in  all  things;  but  this  acquies- 
cence shall  not  in  the  least  degree  partake  of  the  dogged  submis- 
Biveness  which  is  the  characteristic  of  an  inferior. 

"  My  course  shall  be  independent,  and  then,  if  a  cruel  prejudice 
will  drive  (me)  from  the  holy  threshold  of  tlie  school  of  pietv,  I,  the 
weaker,  must  submit  and  yield  to  the  superior  power.  Into  thy 
hands  ever,  0  God,  I  commit  my  cause. 


308  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

Church  fears  to  lose  the  contributions  of  the  south  ;  she 
fears  to  raise  the  mobs  of  Philadelphia  ;  she  dare  not  stand 

"Oct.  12. — At  9  A.  M.  I  called  on  our  spiritual  father  again,  and 
sought  advice  in  relation  to  my  present  embarrassing  circumstances. 
He  gave  me  plainly  to  understand  that  it  would  be  advisable,  in  his 
opinion,  for  me  not  to  apply  for  a  regular  admission  into  the  semi- 
nary, and,  although  I  had  taken  a  room,  and  even  become  settled, 
yet  to  vacate  the  room,  and  silently  withdraw  myself  from  the  semi- 
nary. He  further  said  that  I  might  recite  with  the  classes,  and  avail 
myself  of  the  privileges  of  the  institution,  but  not  consider  myself  in 
the  light  of  a  regular  member.     Never,  never  will  I  do  so  ! 

"  The  reasons  of  the  bishop  for  this  course  are  as  follows  : 

"'That  the  seminary  receives  much  support  and  many  students 
from  the  south,  and  consequently  if  they  admit  colored  men  to  equal 
privileges  with  the  whites  in  the  institution,  the  south  will  refuse  to 
aid  (it),  and  (will)  use  their  influence  to  keep  all  from  the  seminary 
south  of  the  Potomac.  As  head  of  the  seminary,  and  knowing  the 
feelings  and  prejudices  of  the  south,  he  could  not  hazard  my  fuller 
admission  at  such  an  expense. 

"  '  From  the  extreme  excitability  of  public  feeling  on  this  delicate 
subject,  and  from  my  known  and  intimate  connexion  with  the  people 
of  color,  there  would  be  a  high  probability  not  only  of  bringing  the 
institution  into  disrepute,  but  of  exciting  opposing  sentiment  among 
the  students,  and  thus  causing  many  to  abandon  the  school  of  the 
prophets.' 

"  I  think  these  two  form  the  reasons  of  the  bishop  against  my 
being  admitted.  The  course,  however,  he  advises,  viz.  the  being  a 
'hanger-on'  in  the  seminary,  is  something  so  utterly  repugnant  to 
my  feelings  as  a  man,  that  I  cannot  consent  to  adopt  it.  If  I  cannot 
be  admitted  regularly,  I  leave  the  place ;  but  in  leaving  I  will  ever 
bold  the  utmost  good  feeling  towards  the  faculty  and  my  friends.  It 
is  a  cruel  prejudice  which  drives  me  so  reluctantly  from  the  door, 
and  makes  even  those  who  make  liigh  pretensions  to  piety  and  purity 
say  to  me,  '  Stand  thou  there,  for  I  am  holier  than  thou.' 

"  In  this  matter,  however,  I  shall  acquiesce  as  a  Christian,  but 
shall  preserve  the  independent  feelings  of  a  man.  My  most  devoted 
thanks  are  due  to  my  dear  friends,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Berrian  and  Lyell, 
for  the  earnest  solicitude  which  they  manifest  for  my  welfare.  'They 
seem  heartily  to  regret  that  any  difficulty  has  arisen  on  the  present 
subject. 

"  Upon  reflection,  it  is  my  present  opinion  that  Bishop  Onderdonk 
is  wrong  in  yielding  to  the  '  unrighteous  prejudice'  (his  words)  of  the 
community.  If  the  prejudice  be  wrong,  I  tliink  he  ought  to  oppose 
it  without  regard  to  consequences.  If  such  men  as  he  countenance 
it,  they  become  partakers  with  the  transgressors.  He  says,  by  and 
by  Providence  will  open  the  way  ;  but  will  Providence  effect  the 
change  miraculously?      We  cannot  expect  it.     He  will,  however. 


COLORED    CLERGYMEN.  309 

between  the  dead  and  living :  she  cannot  therefore  stay 
the  plague.  Even  when  admitted  to  the  sacred  functions 
of  the  priesthood,  the  colored  man  is  not  the  equal  of  his 
brethren.  The  Rev.  Peter  "Williams,  for  years  a  New- 
York  presbyter,  of  blameless  reputation,  was,  for  this  one 
cause,  allowed  no  seat  in  the  convention  of  his  Church. 
Thus,  again,  a  special  canon  of  the  diocese  of  Pennsylvania 
forbids  the  representation  of  the  African  Church  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  excludes  the  rector  from  a  seat.* 

Tried,  then,  by  this  test,  what  can  we  esteem  the  pre- 
sent influence  of  this  body  ?  It  plainly  has  not  been  con- 
scious of  possessing  power  to  stand  up  in  God's  name  and 
to  rebuke  the  evil  one ;  it  has  not  healed  this  sore  wound, 
which  is  wasting  the  true  social  life  of  America.  It  is  a 
time  for  martyrdom  ;  and  the  mother  of  the  saints  has 
scarcely  brought  forth  even  one  confessor. 

effect  it  by  appointed  means,  and  tlie.se  means  ought  to  be  resorted 
to  by  His  instruments — men.  And  what  men  more  suitable  than 
men  high  in  ofiice,  high  in  public  fovor,  high  in  talents  ?  Particu- 
larly should  men  commissioned  to  preach  the  G-ospel,  which  teaches 
mercy,  righteousness,  and  truth,  enter  upon  the  work.  What  makes 
my  case  more  aggravating  and  dreadful  is,  that  the  bishop  says,  that 
even  admitting  I  have  no  African  blood  in  me,  yet  my  identity  with 
the  people  of  color  will  bar  the  door  of  the  seminary  against  me. 
Horrid  inconsistency ! 

"Oct.  13. — Called  on  the  bishop  yesterday,  and  had  a  final  inter- 
view with  him  on  this  mortifying  subject.  His  determination  was 
settled  and  fi.x;ed,  that  from  a  sober  consideration  of  all  things,  the 
interest  of  the  seminary,  the  comfort  of  myself,  and  the  ultimate 
good  of  my  people,  I  had  better  silently  withdraw,  and,  agreeably 
to  my  plan,  study  privately  with  a  clergyman.  He  again,  at  this 
interview,  suggested  the  plan  of  my  embracing  the  privileges  of  the 
seminary  without  being  regularly  admitted ;  to  which  I  would  r>ot 
consent,  as  it  would  be  both  a  sacrifice  of  the  feelings  of  a  man, 
which  I  felt  not  disposed  to  offer,  and,  further,  a  sacrifice  of  principle, 
to  which,  I  am  confident,  the  noble-minded  among  my  people  would 
not  allow  me  to  submit. 

"  I  cannot  but  conceive  my  case  to  be  a  very  peculiar  one,  involv- 
ing much  difficulty,  and  one  which  will  ultimately  cause  the  guardians 
and  controllers  of  this  sacred  institution  to  hang  their  heads  for 
ehame.  This  day  I  am  driven,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  students  of 
the  seminary,  and  the  sight  of  liigh  Heaven,  from  the  school  of  the 
prophets." 

"  Caste  and  Slavery,  p.  17. 


310  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

To  an  Englishman  this  silence  is  the  more  eminently 
matter  of  the  deepest  pain,  because  he  will  at  once  admit 
that  to  his  own  people  belongs  the  origin  of  that  guilt  in 
which  the  Church  and  nation  of  America  are  now  en- 
tangled. So  little  has  our  colonial  empire  been  adminis- 
tered on  those  principles  for  which  our  Church  has  wit- 
nessed,* that  England  forced  upon  her  reluctant  colonists 
the  curse  and  crime  of  slave-holding  institutions.  Against 
remonstrance  and  resistance  from  the  west,  England  thrust 
upon  them  this  clinging  evil.  Freely  do  we  take  the  shame 
of  having  first  begun  this  course  of  crime  ;  but  the  sense  of 
this  only  makes  us  desire  more  earnestly  that,  through  the 
blessing  of  that  pure  faith  which  also  she  received  from 
us,  this  guilt  and  loss  may  be  removed. 

Other  symptoms  show  that  the  mass  of  the  population 
has  not  yet  greatly  felt  the  influence  of  the  Episc  jpalian 
body.  Few  of  the  poor  belong  to  it.  It  is  the  religion  of  the 
affluent  and  the  respectable  ;  but  by  it  as  yet  the  gospel  is 
not  largely  preached  to  the  poor.  The  very  aspect  of  the 
churches  bespeaks  as  much.  These  vaiy  fi'om  the  rude 
buildings  constructed  of  unsawn  logs,  which  first  gem  the 
solitudo  of  the  backwoods,  up  to  the  costly  edifices  of  the 
city,  of  which  the  walls,  "  built  of  hammered  bluestone 
trimmed  with  granite,  rise  forty  feet  above  the  ground, 
and  in  which  the  organ  alone  cost  1125/."t  In  some  of 
the  new  cities  of  the  west  they  have  been  built  at  a  cost 
of  12, GOO/.  But  they  all  bear  one  character.  They  are 
good  specimens  of  what  may  be  termed  the  modern  Gothic. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  the  whole  Episcopal  com- 
munion throughout  America  one  specimen  of  that  glorious 
style  of  religious  architecture  which  is  to  be  found  in  our 
cathedrals,  and  below  them  in  so  many  of  our  parish- 
churches  here  in  England.  The  one  predominant  idea  in 
the  churches  of  America  is  to  obtain  the  largest  number  of 
pews,  which,  from  fronting  the  pulpit,  shall  let  at  remune- 
rating prices.  This  regulates  every  arrangement.  The 
pulpit  occupies  one  end  of  the  building,  the  communion 
table  being  thrust  aside,  and  often  consisting  of  no  more 

*  Note  p.  302.  f  Caswall,  p.  208. 


LUKEWARMNESS.  311 

than  a  narrow  board  whicli  fronts  the  reading-desk.  In- 
stead of  emulating  the  solemn  grandeur  of  our  ancient 
churches,*  liberality  here  displays  itself  in  the  elegance 
and  finish!  of  the  internal  decoration  of  the  buildings. 
They  are  remarkable  lor  the  comfort  of  their  cushioned 
pews,  carpeted  floors,  warm  stoves,  and,  in  lieu  of  the 
small  circular  pulpit  of  England,  their  spacious  platforms, 
well  furnished  with  the  requisite  cushions,  draper^',  and 
lights."  iSome  of  these  churches  "  rather  resemble  splendid 
drawing-rooms  than  houses  of  worship.  Handsome  carpets 
cover  every  part ;  the  pews  are  luxuriously  cushioned  in  a 
manner  calculated  to  invite  repose  ;  while  splendidly  em- 
broidered pulpit-hangings,  superb  services  of  communion- 
plate,  and  a  profusion  of  silk  and  velvet,  gilding  and  paint- 
ing, excite  the  curiosity  of  the  stranger  more  than  his  de- 
votion. In  these  the  poor  man  could  hardly  fmd  liimselt"  at 
home."J 

The  natural  effects  of  such  a  state  of  things  are  plainly 
to  be  traced.  '■'Intellectual  sermons  and  elegant  compc- 
sition  are  held  in  high  esteem,"  and  these  "frequently" 
degenerate  into  the  dressing-up  of  ordinary  sentiment  in 
a  florid  style  which  approaches  to  bombast. §  Hence  the 
stranger  finds  in  the  house  of  praj-er  "a  large  congregation 
of  gay  and  fashionable  visitors,  engaged  in  cold,  formal, 
and  ostentatious  worship. "11  Hence  such  avowals  as  this 
by  the  venerable  Bishop  GrLswold :  "the  evil  most  to  be 
feared  and  most  prevalent  amongst  us  is  lukewarmness. 
With  shame  must  we  acknowledge  that  we  incline  to  be 
cold  rather  than  hot.  Enthusiasm  is  as  rare  in  our  churches 
as  a  scorching  sun  in  a  northern  winter :  the  mercury  of 
our  zeal  is  constantly  below  the  degree  of  temperature. "If 
Hence,  too,  it  follows,  that  the  maintenance  of  a  continual 
sacrifice  of  prayer  and  praise  to  God  seems  wholly  foreign 
to  the  feelings  of  our  brethren  in  the  west.     For  whilst 

«  Caswall,  p.  289. 

f  Buckingham's  America,  vol.  ill.  p.  472  ;  vol.  i.  p.  190. 
t  Caswiill,  p.  2S9.  §  Ibid.  p.  296. 

II  Buckingham's  America,  vol.  i.  p.  276. 

•y  Bishop    Griswold   on    Prayer-Meetings.     See  Life  of  Bishop 
Moore,  p.  93. 


312  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

"  weekly  lectures  are  very  frequent,"  and  the  whole  temper 
of  the  people  favors  frequent  public  meetings,  there  was, 
in  1839,  "  no  place  in  America  in  which  the  service  of  the 
Church  was  performed  daily,  unless  the  General  Theological 
Seminary  at  New-York  m.ay  be  regarded  as  an  exception."* 

This  must  be  to  a  great  extent  the  result  of  their  posi- 
tion. As  a  general  rule  they  possess  no  endowments.  The 
building  of  a  church  is  often  a  money-speculation  ;  the  sale 
of  pews  is  to  cover  the  expenses  of  the  managing  commit- 
tee ;  the  pew-holders  are  the  parish,  and  they  elect  and 
pay  the  clergyman  by  an  assessiTient  ou  the  pews.  All 
this  must  exclude  the  poor.  They  cannot  subscribe  at  first ; 
they  cannot  pay  pew-rents  ;  they  have  no  part  therefore 
in  the  matter. t  The  clergyman  has  no  parochial  charge, 
the  parish  no  territorial  existence  ;  the  clergyman  is  the 
hired  servant  of  the  pew-owners  to  perform  a  certain  work. 
Thus  the  poor  are  passed  wholly  by ;  they  are  the  charge 
of  no  one. 

In  New- York,  where  the  Episcopalian  body  is  possessed 
of  endowments,  free  churches  have  been  opened  for  the 
poor.  But  these  have  not  answered.  The  jealousy  of 
poor  republicans  forbids  their  profiting  by  such  distinctive 
benefits.  This,  moreover,  is  here  exasperated  to  the  vit- 
most  by  the  established  custom  of  allotting  to  "  negroes 
and  other  colored  persons  the  privilege  of  occupying  free 
seats  by  themselves,  distinct  from  the  rest  of  the 
congregation."!  So  does  this  curse  of  American  society 
meet  us  anew  at  every  turn. 

*  Caswall's  America,  p.  95. 

f  Tlie  practical  effect  of  this  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
supposed  conversation  between  two  of  them,  introduced  into  the 
"  Lowell  Offering,"  a  miscellany  composed  by  the  "  factory  girls"  at 
the  Manchester  of  America  : — 

"  Dorcas.  The  Gospel  is  an  expensive  luxury  now,  and  those  only 
■who  can  afford  to  pay  their  four  or  six  or  more  dollars  a  year  can 
hear  its  truths 

"  Rosina.  Do  not  speak  harshly,  Dorcas  .  .  .  times  have  indeed 
changed  .  .  .  but  circumstances  also  have  changed.  ...  It  is  true 
we  cannot  procure  a  year's  seat  in  one  of  our  most  expensive  churches 
for  less  than  four  present  weeks'  wages." — Knight's  Mind  amoiigst 
the  Spindles,  p.  123. 

X  Caswall's  America,  p.  282. 


UNFAVORABLE    POSITION    OF    THE    CLERGY.  313 

In  another  way,  also,  this  Bystem  grievously  impairs 
the  Church's  strength.  It  keeps  the  clergyman  in  a  state 
of.servile  dependence  on  his  congregation.  "  There  is  not 
a  man  in  his  flock,  however  mean  and  unworthy,  whom  he 
does  not  fear  ;  and  if  he  happens  to  displease  a  man  of 
importance,  or  a  busy  woman,  there  is  an  end  of  his  peace."* 
This  makes  his  witness  often  feeble  and  uncertain ;  for 
hence  follows  the  temptation  to  truckle  to  popular  opinion  ; 
hence  the  Church's  silence  as  to  the  treatment  of  the  co- 
lored race.  By  this,  again,  the  general  standard  of  cleri- 
cal character  is  depressed.  "  More  commonly  it  is  the 
lower  order  of  talent  which  is  found  there  ;  and  in  a  coun- 
try where  all  depends  on  display  and  present  popular  ef- 
fect, it  is  an  unenviable  doom  to  be  attached  to  that  pro- 
fession."! This  also  has  made  a  constant  change  of  sphere 
almost  a  condition  of  clerical  life  in  the  west.  "  Popula- 
rity is  the  measure  of  a  clergyman's  comfort  in  America  ; 
and  he  is  generally  most  popular  at  first."  Then  his  sup- 
port begins  to  flag,  his  maintenance  is  reduced,  or  yielded 
in  a  mamier  painful  to  his  leelings.  He  is  forced  to  mi- 
grate :  and  thus  there  is  everlasting  change  in  the  condi- 
tion of  the  American  clergy.  They  change  ;  the  people 
change  ;  all  is  a  round  of  change  ;  because  all  depends  ou 
the  voluntary  principle. $ 

All  of  these  evils  are  found  in  their  full  vigor  ami  st 
the  various  sects.  Amongst  them  the  instability  of  popu- 
lar favor  is  bridled  by  no  external  influence.  But  the  ab- 
sence of  endowment  bi-ings  the  Church  itself  to  a  fearful 
degree  under  the  same  influence,  and  to  that  extent  im- 
pairs its  character  and  moral  weight. 

That,  under  such  a  system,  the  clergy  should  be  what 
they  are  in  America  is  surely  the  fruit  of  God's  especial 
mercy.  In  the  midst  of  the  busiest  people  upon  earth, 
where  all  are  getting  or  expecting  to  get  money,  there  has 

*  Voice  from  America,  p.  199.  f  Ibid.  p.  194. 

^  Ibid.  pp.  192,  193.  It  is  well  ■worth  the  most  serious  consider- 
ation of  the  American  Church,  whether  the  evil  might  not  to  a  great 
extent  be  removed  by  the  introduction  of  the  principle  of  supporting" 
their  clergy  by  the  collection  of  a  common  fund  to  be  apportioned  by 
the  bishops. 

14 


314  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

been  no  want  of  young  men  ready  to  devote  themselves  to 
the  service  of  their  brethren,  though  they  have  no  security 
of  receiving  even  the  necessary  competence  for  ordinary 
domestic  hie,  and  are  not  led  on  by  any  possible  expecta- 
tion of  obtaining  one  amongst  some  few  great  prizes,  or 
allured  by  the  expectation  of  learned  leisure,  or  promised 
an  opportunity  of  leading  thereby  a  literary  life.  They 
choose  their  lot,  knowing  that  in  it  their  days  must  be  spent 
in  constant  and  exhausting  labor,  with  the  smallest  eartlily 
recompense.  On  such  a  ministry  Crod's  blessing  must  rest 
abundantly,  and  in  its  high  character  is,  no  doubt,  I'ound 
the  practical  escape  from  many  evils  inherent  in  the  theorj"^ 
of  the  constitution  of  their  Church. 

Here,  then,  we  may  form  some  judgment  of  the  present 
influence  of  this  body  in  America  ;  and  it"  from  this  we  may 
venture  to  anticipate  its  future  progress,  there  is  much 
ground  for  sanguine  hope,  not  unmixed  with  reasonable 
fear. 

Its  dangers  can  hardly  be  mistaken.  The  great  stream 
of  religious  opinion  in  America  sets  towards  the  chill  decen- 
cies of  Sociuian  error.  This  is  the  natural  tendency  of  a 
busy,  growiirg,  wealthy,  self-governing  people,  and  this  has 
been  eminently  the  tendency  of  the  West.  The  New-Eng- 
land states  have  already  fallen  into  the  snare  ;  and  from 
the  revulsions  which  follow  the  extravagance  of  revivals, 
as  well  as  from  other  causes,  these  tenets  are  generally 
spreading.  "  This  doctrine,"  Avrites  Jefferson  in  1822, 
from  Virginia,  "  )ias  not  yet  been  preached  to  us,  but  the 
breeze  begins  to  be  felt.  ...  It  will  come  and  drive  be- 
fore it  the  foggy  mists  which  have  so  long  obscured  our 
atmosphere."*  "  Ths^t  this  will  ere  long  be  the  religion 
of  the  majority,  from  north  to  south,  I  have  no  donbt."t 
''  I  confidently  expect  that  the  present  generation  will  see 
it  become  the  general  religion  of  the  United  States.  '| 

Exaggerated  as  were  Jeffersons  immediate  expectations, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  point  towards  the  real  danger. 
The  mercantile  turn,  even  of  religion,  inclines  in  this  direc- 

*  Jefiferaon's  Correspondence,  vol.  iv.  p.  362. 

f  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  p.  367.  X  Ibid.  vol.  iv-  p.  369. 


LATITUDINARUNISM.  315 

tion.  Where  there  is  enough  of  a  hovermg  tendency  to- 
wards Chrisianity  to  lead  to  the  erection  of  a  new  church 
in  some  newly-setlled  or  increasing  neighborhood,  its  fa- 
bric is  divided  out  into  a  series  of  pews,  on  no  other  pnn- 
ciple  than  how  they  will  let  to  the  greatest  advantage. 
The  minister  is  engaged  on  the  same  calculation.  Even 
the  doctrines  to  be  preached  are  ruled  by  the  same  law. 
Hence  we  hear  of  such  strange  facts  as  that  a  Congrega- 
tional population,  having  abandoned  their  old  creed,  hung 
long  in  doubt  between  electing  a  Socinian  or  TJniversalist 
teacher,  and  ended  by  addicting  themselves  to  the  Episco- 
pal communion.*  AH  of  this  is  evidently  highly  unfavor- 
able to  the  simple  chdd-like  fatih  which  Christ's  gospel 
requires  ;  it  is  all  injurious  to  that  earnest  personal  faith  in 
the  blood  of  Jesus  as  the  only  hope  of  lost  sinners,  without 
which  even  the  most  orthodox  creed  becomes  a  set  of  bar- 
ren and  unmeaning  dogmas. 

And  this  tendency  of  the  Americau  temper  is  increased 
by  the  character  of  their  political  institutions.  Absolute 
iudifterenee  to  all  religious  distinction  is  the  principle  which 
lies  at  their  root.  They  are  full  of  a  continual  practical 
denial  of  the  exi.stence  of  any  difference  between  truth  and 
filsehood.  It  is  not  merely  that  all  forms  of  worship  and 
opinions  are  tolerated,  although  this  is  carried  so  far  that 
even  infidelity  it.self  is  treated  with  respect  and  deference  as 
one  peculiar  "  form  of  religious  opinion,  being  certainly  an 
opinion  about  religion  ;"*  but,  beyond  this,  it  appears  to 
be  the  aim  of  the  state  to  extend  a  just  and  equal  measure 
of  direct  support  and  patronage  to  all  sects  and  professions 
of  belief.  Thus,  Avhen  a  state-legislature  assembles,  it  is 
the  prevailing  custom  that  the  ministers  of  all  such  bodies 
should  be  invited  to  act  by  Aveekly  rotation  as  their  chap- 
lains ;  and  this  extends  to  every  extreme  of  opinion.  A 
professed  Sociuian  is  invited  to  otficiate  as  chaplain  before 
the  descendants  of  those  puritans  who  left  their  fathers' 
land  to  Avorship  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  and 
truth  ;  and  a  Romanist  ofiers  up  the   public   worship  of 


•  Caswall.  p.  136. 

*  Voice  from  America,  p. 


159. 


316  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

states,  from  which  a  few  generations  back  the  priest  was 
banished  under  the  penalty  of  death.* 

This  custom  is  not  confined  to  state  assemblies.  The 
congress,  at  the  opening  of  every  session,  elects  a  chaplain 
for  each  of  its  two  houses,  with  an  understanding  that  both 
chaplains  shall  not  be  of  the  same  sect.  Thus  every  sect 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years  receives  in  turn  the  compli- 
ment of  this  selection.  The  same  rule  applies  to  their 
army  and  navy  chaplains,  who  are  commonly  elected  mere- 
ly for  their  personal  attainments,  and  without  the  question 
being  even  asked  to  what  sect  or  party  they  belong.  So 
lax  a  system  of  entire  indifference  is,  in  truth,  one  develop- 
ment of  infidelity  ;  for  in  this  common  encouragement  of 
all  sects  there  is  at  one  time  or  another  a  denial  of  every 
truth.  This  must  leaven  the  whole  mind  of  the  nation 
with  the  persuasion  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  objective 
truth, — and  this  is  the  first  step  towards  professed  unbe- 
lief. He  who  knows  not  whether  any  thing  is  true,  begins 
to  doubt  of  everything  ;  and  he  who  has  once  suffered 
doubt  to  dwell  freely  and  at  large  within  his  breast,  is 
already  far  advanced  towards  the  positive  disbelief  of  all 
things. 

Against  this,  then,  the  Chui'ch  has  continually  to  strive 
and  testify.  It  is  the  first  principle  of  every  Christian  man, 
that  God  has  revealed  to  us  a  knowledge  of  Himself,  of  His 
will,  of  ourselves,  and  of  our  duty  ;  and  that  His  word  is 
true,  that  it  is  the  truth.  Of  this  truth  the  Church  claims 
to  be  a  "  witness,"  and  a  "  keeper"  of  this  testimony. 
The  points  taught  in  the  creeds  are,  therefore,  no  longer 
matter  for  doubt  and  speculation,  but  merely  of  faithful 
and  willing  reception,  because  they  come  from  Him  who  is 
truth.  On  these  matters  it  is  not  possible  to  enter  into  any 
compromise.  It  is  not  possible  for  the  true  believer  to  help 
forward  the  fearful  blasphemies  of  the  Sociuian,  who  de- 
nies the  honor  due  unto  the  Saviour,  by  putting  him  for- 
ward to  act  publicly  as  a  minister  of  that  Lord  whom  he 
dishonors. 

Between,  then,  this  fatal  form  of  false  religion  and  the 

*  Voice  from  America,  p  101. 


CHURCH   OF  ROME.  317 

truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  there  must  be  a  hard  struggle.  But 
not  between  these  only. 

The  sectarian  principle  itself  must  be  successfully  op- 
posed. This  is  at  once  the  ultimate  occasion  of  Socinian 
increase,  and  the  present  mother  of  a  monstrous  and  mis- 
shapen brood  of  heresies.  With  these  the  Church  must  do 
open  battle  for  her  Master's  truth  ;  whilst  she  must  mildly 
open  to  others  the  truths  after  which  they  are  seeking  in 
their  less  perfect  systems,  and  which  perchance  she  may 
win  them  over  to  find  fully  in  her  own.  Nor  is  this  all  : 
with  the  Roman  communion,  also,  she  has  before  her  no 
common  strife.  True  to  the  ordinary  conduct  of  the  pa- 
pacy, the  Roman  pontift'  founded  the  rival  bishopric  of  Bal- 
timore two  years  after  the  consecration  of  Bishops  White 
and  Provoost  ;  and  by  the  subsequent  erection  of  the  sees 
of  New- York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  Beardstown,*  set 
up  altar  against  altar  through  the  West.  Thus  the  Epis- 
copal communion  has  always  had  to  bear  her  protest  against 
papal  superstitions.  But  a  severer  strife  is  yet  to  be  en- 
countered. With  the  keen-eyed  policy  which  has  always 
distinguished  the  schemes  of  Rome,  she  has  turned  her  main 
attention  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  There  a  vast 
population  is  multiplying  with  unprecedented  speed.  The 
European  emigrants  to  this  quarter  are,  by  a  large  ma- 
jority, from  popish  covmtries  ;  and  if  not  already  of  the  Ro- 
mish faith,  no  pains  are  spared  to  make  them  so.  There, 
on  the  outskirts  of  civilized  life,  the  adventurous  settler, 
having  left  behind  him  the  forms  and  opportunities  of 
Christian  worship,  seizes  eagerly  upon  a  soil  of  unbounded 
fertility,  and  devotes  all  his  thoughts  to  making  it  his  own  ; 
and  there  the  enchantress  meets  him  with  her  cup  of  sor- 
cery, and  wins  him  over,  whilst  there  is  no  other  near  to 
whisper  to  him  Avords  of  caution,  or  to  shame  the  fallen 
Church  with  open  rebuke.     No  expense  is  grudged  in  this 

*  "  There  are  serious  difficulties  affecting  the  regularity,  and  even 
the  validity,  of  the  ordination  of  the  above-mentioned  Carroll,  and  all 
the  Romish  clergy  of  the  United  States  derived  from  him,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  ordination  having  been  performed  hy  only  one  titular 
bishop,  who  appears  to  have  labored  under  a  similar  irregularity  or  de- 
ficiency himself."    Palmer's  Treatise  on  the  Church,  vol.  i.  p.  305,  note. 


318  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

peculiar  Avork  ;  i'lmds  are  supplied,  without  any  limit,  from 
the  Leopold  Society  of  Austria,  and  from  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  the  head-quarters  of  which 
are  fixed  at  Lyons."*  The  population  is  becoming  largely 
Romish  ;  and  this,  beyond  all  doubt,  is  to  be  the  fnture 
seat  of  empire.  The  best  informed  Americans  expect  that, 
after  one  more  struggle,  the  west  will  command  the  elec- 
tions of  the  iinion  ;  and  thus  the  centre  of  power  will  have 
been  forestalled  by  Rome.  But  even  now,  and  without 
waiting  this  accomplishment,  her  power  is  not  to  be  con- 
temned. Many  peculiarities  of  lite  in  America  already 
tend  to  establish  her  dominion.  The  revulsion  of  feeling, 
which  ever  drives  men  from  one  extreme  to  another,  na- 
turally leads  those  who  have  been  wearied  out  by  the  fierce 
excitements  of  the  various  sects  to  seek  for  shelter  in  her 
delusive  quietness.  Her  claim  of  infallibility  seems  to  be  a 
blessing  to  spirits  which  are  utterly  hopeless  of  finding  out 
any  truth  amidst  the  conflicting  claims  of  ten  thousand 
contesting  teachers  ;  Avhilst  by  her  doctrine  of  the  sacra- 
ments, her  practical  management  of  penances,  and  her 
perilous  medicine  of  enforced  auricular  confession,  with  its 
attendant  absolution,  she  heals  slightly  the  wounds  of  many 
a  morbid  and  diseased  conscience.  The  Romanists,  more- 
over, have  always  known  how  to  modify  their  doctrines 
and  discipline,  so  as  to  turn  to  the  best  advantage  the  po- 
litical circumstances  of  the  country  and  the  times.  Thus, 
whilst  under  an  absolute  monarchy  they  arc  the  gi'eatest 
enemies  of  rational  and  lawful  liberty,  in  republican  Ame- 
rica they  are  the  most  thoroughly  demooratical  of  all  sects. 
At  first  sight  it  may  be  ditficult  to  conceive  how  the  popish 
discipline  can  be  made  to  harmonise  M'ith  an  equalising 
democracy ;  but  upon  looking  more  closely,  it  will  be 
seen,  as  has  been  remarked  by  a  keen  oberver  of  Ameri- 
can society,!  that  Romanism  is  really  most  favorable  to 

*  "  At  St.  Louis  the  Jesuits  have  lately  erected,  in  addition  to 
their  cathedral,  a  spacious  church  and  a  university,  with  a  library  of 
ten  tliousand  vohimes,  towards  wliich  only  about  eight  thousand 
dollars  were  raised  at  St.  Louis,  the  remainder  of  the  funds  coming 
chiefly  from  Lyons."     Private  Letter  of  Rev.  H.  Caswall. 

f  ill  de  Tocqueville. 


PRO.-iPECTS    OF    THE    CHURCH.  319 

democracy;  for  that  under  its  system  "  the  religions  com- 
mmdty  is  composed  of  only  two  elements  the   priest  and 
the  Deoule      The  priest  alone  rises  above  the  rank  ot  his 
tcrand  all  are  iqual  below  him."     None  la.ow  better 
than  the  adherents  of  the  papacy  how  to  pi-oht  by  such  a 
state  of  society.     Already  they  have  tasted  toe  ^^'e^ts  of 
political  power.     "  They  have  grown,    we  are  told  ml  8.39 
^  to  an  important  political  influence,  by  the  acquisition  ot 
Louisiana  and  by  emipration  from  Europe,  so  as  to  be  capa- 
ble of  turning  a  vote  for  a  national  administration  in  which- 
ever scale  they  cast  their  weight,   in   the  present  near  y 
equal   balance^  of  political  parties.      They   are  generally 
found  on  one  side,  namely,  the  most  thoroughly  democra- 
tical  and  radical  ;  and  as  that  is  at  present  the  dominant 
nartv  it  may  be  said  that  they  govern  the  country  so  iar 
as  that  they  arc  the  means  of  keeping  in  power  the  party 
to  which  they  are  attached."*  ,    ,      ^        ^i, 

Asainst  the  Episcopal  commumon  the  whole  s  rength 
of  the  Romanists  is  bent.  They  ibar  no  other^  body  u 
the  multitude,  variety,  and  extravaganee  of  the  sec  s  s 
they  well  know,  the  secret  of  their  own  strength,  and  the 
Iround  of  their  hope  of  one  day  reducing  all  to  a  common 
servitude.  Their  talisman  of  might  is  m  the  apparent 
shel  e  and  vi.^ible  umty  of  their  church,  and  through  it 
Sey  hope  to  triumph  ;  bnt  these  in  their  reality  are  pos- 
sessed by  the  Episcopal  communion,  and  with  them  the 
blessed  truth  of  Christ's  Gospel,  free  from  those  defp  cor- 
ruptions which  throughout  Christendom  mar  every  where 
the  countenance  of  Home. 

With  Home,  therefore,  in  the  new  world  as  elsewhere, 
the  pure  Church  of  Christ  must  wrestle.  But  there  is  no 
doubt  of  the  result,  if  only  she  be  true  to  hersel  .  It  in- 
deed foi-akin-  this  high  ground,  the  Episcopalian  puts 
htms'elf  upon  I  level  with  every  unscriptaral  sect  around 
^m  then  he  may  expect  to  find  Rome  too  strong  tor  him. 
B^'ifhTmaiSs  llis  true  position,  he  camiot  but  r^s^ 
successfully  her  multiplied  and  tearful  errors.  And  tor  this 
contest  the  Church  in  America  has  some  peculiar  advan- 

.  Voice  from  America,  by  aa  American  Gentleman,  p.  161. 


320  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

tages.  Her  general  convention  enables  her  to  meet  the 
varying  form  of  error,  and  to  adjust  internal  grounds  of 
difierence,  to  an  extent  altogether  unattainable  where,  as 
at  home,  the  power  of  assembling  lawfully  in  synod  has 
been,  for  any  cause,  suspended  or  removed. 

Such  are  the  prospects  of  the  Episcopal  communion. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  hard  struggle  is  before  her  ; 
that  vast  difficulties,  social,  moral,  and  religious,  will  im- 
pede her  progress.  The  treatment  of  the  negro  race  alone 
might  amply  occupy  lier  energies  ;  but  besides  this,  she 
has  the  busiest  people  in  the  world  to  charm  to  Christian 
quietness.  Peace  mu^  be  breathed  over  their  unresting 
eagerness ;  by  cultivating  college-life  and  the  studies  and 
devotions  of  a  more  learned  clergy,  still  thoughts  must  be 
sheltered  and  fostered  amidst  those  crowded  haunts  of  men  ; 
and  safe,  quiet  resting-places  must  be  formed  in  streams 
madder  and  more  troubled  than  the  waters  of  her  own  tur- 
bulent Missouri.  She  must  bridle  or  subdue  the  out- 
stretching atheism  of  the  backwoods  population,  the  extra- 
vagance of  the  multitude  of  strange  sects,  as  well  as  the 
decent  unbelief  of  Socinian  Boston  ;  she  must  expose  the 
subtle  errors  of  the  Romish  Church.  All  this  is  no  ordi- 
nary work  ;  yet  all  this,  and  more  than  all  of  it,  she  may 
accomplish,  if  she  is  but  true  to  her  own  principles.  If 
she  abandons  these,  she  is  indeed  lost.  Whether  swallow- 
ed up  by  the  sects,  or  engulfed  by  Home,  or  sinking  into 
the  Socinian  heresy,  it  were  vain  to  prognosticate  ;  but  her 
fall  is  certain.     The  history  of  the  King's  Chapel*  at  Bos- 

*  Where  the  "  King's  Chapel"  now  stands,  the  first  Episcopal 
church  in  New  England  was  erected  in  1689.  It  was  built  of  wood, 
but  was  replaced  in  1749  by  a  stone  church,  which  cost  little  less 
than  £10,000.  It  was  distinguished  by  a  succession  of  royal  gifts. 
In  1697,  communion-plate  was  given  to  it  by  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary;  and  in  1772  arrived  together  gifts  from  Georges  II.  and 
III.  Only  eleven  years  after  thi^,  the  first  fatal  step  was  openly 
taken,  by  the  adoption  of  an  altered  liturgy,  from  whicli  the  Athan- 
asian  Creed  and  the  opening  sentences  of  the  litany  were  formally 
excluded.  Fi-om  that  time  its  descent  has  been  rapid ;  and  now, 
with  a  mutilated  service  and  heretical  creed,  it  is  an  avowedly  So- 
cinian congregation.  Abridged  from  Dr.  Greenwood's  HisM'y  of 
King's  Chapel,  as  quoted  by  Buckingham,  vol.  iii.  p.  447. 


PROSPECTS   OF    THE    CHURCH.  321 

ton  stands  as  a  beacon-lijrht  to  warn  her  from  this  danger- 
ous course.  Of  the  urgeuey  of  these  dangers  in  times  past, 
the  absence  of  the  Athanasian  Creed  from  her  pubUc  for- 
mularies is  a  painful  record.  It  is  still,  no  doubt,  the 
abiding  loss  of  one  great  safeguard  against  error.  It  is  im- 
possible to  estimate  too  highly  the  value  of  those  hymns  of 
thanksgiving  which  associate  with  the  emotions  of  our  ear- 
liest worship  the  deep  mysteries  of  revelation.  Against  all 
enticements  therefore  to  adopt  a  lower  tone,  she  needs  spe- 
cially to  stand  upon  her  guard.  He  who  bears  the  vows 
of  the  Nazarite  must  not  adopt  as  his  rule  the  ordinary 
customs  of  society  around  him.  If  he  slumbers  in  the  lap 
of  ease  or  worldly  conformity,  the  Phihstines  will  bind  the 
champion  of  God's  host ;  and  he  who  should  have  deliver- 
ed Israel  will  ere  long  grind  sightless  in  the  world's  mill,  or 
make  rude  merriment  for  God's  enemies. 

But  if  in  the  character  of  Christ's  witness,  loving  and 
proclaiming  His  truth  in  its  simplicity,  ministering  His  sa- 
craments faithfully  and  purely,  she  resists  the  evils  around 
her,  then  in  God's  name  will  she  surely  triumph  over  all 
opposition.     To  do  which  there  mnst  be  no  dread  of  mar- 
tyrdom when  truth  requires  the  sacrifice.     At  all  costs  she 
must  bear  the  burden  of  the  Lord,  and  bless  the  religious 
and  social  life  of  those  given  to  her.     This  she   can  do  in 
the   strength  God  gives  to  His   faithful  witnesses,  if  that 
strength  is  called  out   and  used  for  Him.     But  to  be  thus 
strong,    she     must     bring     out     her     own     principles. 
There  must  be  no  faltering   step    swervmg  towards   the 
sects  around  her,  no  secret  coveting  of  the  Babylonish  gar- 
ment which  is  stored  within  the  tents  of  Rome.     Her  ban- 
ner must  be  indeed  "  Evangelical  truth  with   apostolical 
order, — the  Gospel  in  the  Church."     There  must  be   no 
paring  down,    on  the  one  side,  of  the  great  doctrines  of 
grace  ;  no  attempt,  on  the  other,  to   win  the  good-will  of 
men  by   changing,  according   to   their   wandering  fancies, 
that  form  of  Church-order  which    Christ  has   appointed. 
It  is  impossible  by  such  a  course  to  turn  aside  reproach  and 
and  opposition.     This  cannot  be   avoided  by  any  sacrifice 
short  of  "  the  intercommunity  of  services  ;"*  that  is,  of 
*  Reed  and  Matheson. 
14* 


322  AMERICAN   CHURCH. 

an  entire  abandonment  of  all  claim  to  apostolic  constitu- 
tion. For  this  is  the  real  question  in  dispute  between  her- 
self and  others  :  and  the  less  are  the  ostensible  reasons  for 
separation  from  them,  the  greater  is  the  irritation  which 
inevitably  awaits  those  who  still  insist  on  separation  ;  for 
m  them  it  seems  to  be  founded  on  no  great  principle,  and 
to  be  therefore  causeless,  which  makes  it  injurious  and  in- 
sulting. They  who  have  thought  that  the  outcry  some- 
times heard  against  the  Church  at  home  is  excited  by  its 
being  establislied  by  the  nation,  and  not  by  its  bearing  wit- 
ness against  the  lawfulness  of  sectarian  subdivision,  may  be 
surprised  to  find  that,  to  an  English  dissenter,  the  claims 
of  the  Episcopal  communion  are  more  offensive  in  America 
than  here,  "  where  there  is  something  of  pomp,  and  pri- 
vilege, and  numbers  to  uphold  these  pretensions."*  There 
it  appears  to  him  to  be  incredible  exclusiveness  Hence  in 
that  land  it  is  doubly  needful  that  the  true  grounds  of  those 
actions  which  provoke  this  judgment  should  be  calmly  but 
clearly  stated.  It  must  be  felt  that  they  who  act  thus  do 
so  because  they  believe  that  Christ  having  founded  a  fixed 
form  of  Church-life,  it  is  not  lawful  for  them  at  their  own 
will  to  alter  it,  or  to  acquiesce  in  its  re-construction,  to 
please  the  taste  of  other  men.  This,  and  this  only,  can 
justify  their  separation  :  if  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Ame- 
rica, instead  of  being  the  witness  against  all  sectarian  divi- 
sion, is  herself  regarded  as  one  of  the  sects,  then  is  she  in- 
deed the  most  exclusive  and  overbearing  of  them  all.  Her 
sons  must  be  felt  not  to  be  maintaining  in  a  hostile  spirit 
their  own  dogmas,  but  in  the  heartiest  love  to  be  bent  on 
sharing  with  their  less  favored  brethren  the  riches  of  their 
own  inheritance  ;  and  this  they  cannot  do  unless  they  them- 
selves believe  in  its  reality.  Nothing  can  more  fatally 
deny  their  own  true  standing-ground  than  the  unhappy 
custom,  prevalent  upon  their  days  of  solemn  gathering,  of 
publicly  inviting,  often  by  their  bishop's  voice,  to  the  table 
of  the  Lord,  not  only  their  own  members,  but  "all  Avho 
consider  themselves  as  in  good  standing  with  their  own 
denomination."! 

*  Reed  and  Mathesoii,  vol  .  ii.  p.  75. 

\  No  question  is  asked  as  to  the  great  fundamentals  of  the  faith  ; 


PROMISE  OF  THE  FUTURE.  323 

But  it  is  not  enough  that  the  distinctive  features  which 
mark  tliis  communion  should  thus  be  kept  clear  and  plain. 
There  must  also  be  a  hijjh  tone  on  those  <^reat  moral  and 
S"cial  questions  which  are  rising  daily,  and  on  which  mere 
politicians  haA'^e  no  utterance  of  principle.  There  must  be 
no  timid  silence  as  to  great  enormities.  In  those  mighty 
issues  whicli  indeed  try  the  spirits  of  men,  her  voif^e  must 
be  clear.  Thus,  for  example,  the  treatment  of  the  negro 
population  must  be  her  care  ;  tlie  equal  wnlh  of  the  co- 
lored race  must  be  luiequivocally  held  and  asserted  by  her. 
It  must  no  longer  be  the  reproach  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  that  it  is  only  in  the  Romish  Cathedral  at 
Ncw-0''leans  that  whites  and  blacks  are  seen  to  kneel 
together,*  as  those  wiio  were  made  of  one  blood  by  one 
Father,  and  redeemed  from  common  death  through  the 
cross  of  one  only  Saviour.  Timid,  compromising  conduct 
on  these  great  subjects,  safe  as  it  may  seem  at  present, 
will,  more  than  any  thing  besides,  weaken  through  the 
whole  nation  tlie  moral  weight  of  any  religious  body.  By 
an  universal  law  of  God's  providence,  it  is  in  doing  battle 
for  His  truth  that  men  exercise  and  train  their  own  spirits, 
and  subdue  the  herd  of  weaker  minds  to  their  rule  and 
government.  By  its  courage  or  unfaitJifnlness  on  this  one 
question,  the  Church,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  is  fixing  now 
for  good  or  ill  its  true  weight  and  standing  in  the  coming 
generation. 

Many  favorable  signs  give  hopeful  promise  of  its  rising 
to  its  true  dignity  of  action.  On  all  sides  there  is  a  grow- 
ing disposition  to  act  meekly  and  calmly,  but  yet  steadily, 
upon  its  own  principles.  It  is  carrying  throughout  the 
Union  its  episcopacy  and  apostolic  discipline.  It  is  provi- 
ding for  clerical  education  and  the  ibrmation  of  a  clerical 
character  amongst  those  who  are  to  bear  the  ministry  of 
Christ.  On  every  side  it  is  seeking  to  remove  the  irregu- 
larities and  contradictions  which,  in  its  weak  and  uncertain 
beginning,  were  suffered  in  its  constitution,  as  the  fruits  of 
ignorance  within  itself,  or  concessions  to  predjucice  with- 

but  even    Socinians  may   avail   themselves  of   the   promiscuous 
invitation. 

*  Retrospect  of  Western  Travel,  vol.  i.  p.  128. 


324  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

out.  Attempts  are  even  now  making  to  limit  the  elections 
of  members  of  convention  to  those  vv^ho  are  in  regular  com- 
munion. Conventions  are  increasingly  commenced  with 
the  celebration  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.* 
In  its  missionary  organization  the  true  and  highest  form 
of  Church-societies  is  visibly  developed.  The  whole  body 
is  thereby  acknoM'ledged  the  society,  and  its  rule  and  gov- 
ernment is  placed  in  the  same  hands  which  have  received 
from  Christ's  appointment  the  administration  of  His 
Church.  On  other  points,  at  the  same  time,  the  tone  of 
thought  and  action  is  manifestly  rising.  The  poor  are,  far 
more  than  they  were,  the  care  of  this  communion.  The 
institution  of  free  churches,  although  not  yet  wholly  suc- 
cessful, is  a  practical  avowal  of  their  sense  of  this  obliga- 
tion. Even  on  the  slave-question  the  Church  is  not 
wholly  silent.  She  has  turned  away  from  the  baits  held 
out  by  the  Colinization  Society.!     One  bishop,  and  not  the 

*  Before  the  general  convention  of  1841,  nearly  1500  communi- 
cants met  together  at  the  Lord's  table  in  St.  John's  church,  New- 
York. 

t  In  the  convention  of  182.3  the  bishops  declined  the  proposal  of 
Bending  a  delegate  to  an  intended  meeting  of  that  bccJy,  but  ex- 
pressed approbation  of  their  object.  Bishop  White's  Memoirs  p.  51. 
This  was  a  charitable  construction  of  the  purposes  of  that  society. 
No  doubt  many  truly  humane  men  have  joined  it  with  the  hope  of 
colonising  Africa  with  free  blacks,  and  thereby  introducing  into  that 
unhappy  continent,  and  amidst  its  estimated  ;-)0,000,000  of  the  negro 
race,  civilization  and  Christianity.  And  to  a  certain  extent,  this,  we 
may  hope,  will  be  the  result  of  their  colony  of  Liberia  on  the  African 
coast.  But  the  great  effect  of  the  scheme,  if  it  succeeded,  would  be 
to  remove  from  America  all  the  free  colored  population  who  are  the 
natural  guardians  of  their  brethren  in  slavery,  and  so  to  rivet  for 
ever  the  fetters  of  the  slave.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  safety-valve  of  that 
system,  and  therefore  is  in  favor  amongst  all  the  advocates  of  slavery 
in  the  northern  as  well  as  the  southern  states.  For  whilst  it  pro- 
mises to  the  south  the  secure  possession  of  their  slave-labor,  it  falls 
in  with  northern  prejudice  by  being  a  practical  declaration,  that  the 
two  races  cannot  co-exist  together  in  a  state  of  freedom,  and  that 
deportation  must  be  a  condition  of  the  black  man's  liberty.  The 
statements  of  one  of  its  ablest  advocates, f  carefully  prepared,  too, 
to  fall  in,  as  far  as  possible,  with  the  prejudices  of  England  on  this 


t  Letter  to  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay,  <fec.,  by  R.  R.  Gurley, 


BISHOP    MEADE    AND    SLAVERY.  325 

least  distinguished  of  his  order,  has  been  scarcely  held  back 
by  the  full  I'orce  of  official  forms  from  recording  his  solemn 
protest  against  the  exclusion  from  the  General  Theological 
Seminary  of  the  candidate  of  negro  blood  ;  and  in  two  at 
least  of  the  churches  of  the  north  the  African  has  been 
acknowledged  to  be,  as  much  as  his  white  brother  in  the 
priesthood,  the  witness  of  Christ's  resurrection,  and  tha 
Stewart  of  His  mysteries.*  Even  in  Virginia,  from  the 
bishop's  seat,  a  whisper  may  be  heard.  Bishop  Meade 
has  put  into  his  Manual  of  Devotion  this  prayer  for  the 
use  of  a  master  of  a  family  in  the  slave  district  : — "  0 
heavenly  Master,  hear  me  whilst  I  lift  my  heart  in  prayer 
for  those  unfortunate  beings  who  call  me  master.  0  God, 
make  known  unto  me  my  whole  duty  towards  them  and 
their  oppressed  race  ;  give  me  courage  and  grace  to  do  it 
at  all  events  ;  convince  me  of  sin  if  I  be  wrong  in  retaining 
them  another  moment  in  bondage."  In  the  freedom  of 
this  happy  land  we  cannot  without  effort,  easily  beleive 
how  much  true  Christian  daring  was  required  to  put  forth 
even  this  gentle  rebuke.  God  grant  that  it  may  soon  be 
spoken  in  accents  like  those  of  the  faithful  prophet  whose 
righteous  soul  would  not  endure  that  the  people  of  the 
Lord  should  continue  halting  between  two  opinions. 

For  if  on  tliis,  and  on  other  kindred  subjects,  her  wit- 
subject,  scarcely  veil  this  vievr.  Their  tone  cannot  be  mistaken. 
They  are  a  plausible  apology  for  the  "  peculiar  social  institutions  of 
the  south."  They  would  justify  perpetual  bondage  amidst  the 
sugar-canes  and  cotton-plants  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  and  the 
perpetual  trampling  on  the  free  negro  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia 
and  New- York. 

*  It  is  due  to  those  who,  in  this  day  of  trial,  have  not  shrunk  from 
their  principles,  to  record  the  names  of  those  who  have  borne  this 
■witness.  Bishop  Doane  of  Xew  Jersey,  in  June,  1839,  opposed  and 
sought  leave  to  enter  his  protest  against  the  decision  of  the  trustees 
as  to  Alex.  Crummell ;  and  he  having  since  been  ordained  by  the 
late  Bishop  Griswold,  has  been  invited  to  share  in  the  public  services 
of  the  Church,  "in  the  presence  of  large  and  fashionable  congrega- 
tions, as  an  equal  brother,  without  a  syllable  of  di-^approbation  dis- 
turbing the  harmony  of  the  scene,"  by  the  Rev.  George  Burgess, 
rector  of  Christ  Church,  the  Rev.  Arthur  Coxe,  (author  of  Athanasion, 
(fee-,)  minister  of  St.  Gabriel's,  Windsor,  and  rector  of  St.  John's 
Church,  Hartford,  Connecticut.     Caste  and  Slavery,  p.  22. 


326  AMERICAN    CHURCH. 

ness  for  God  were  clear  and  explicit,  what  could  we  fear 
for  the  Churcli  in  America?  It  has  already  even  gained 
on  the  rapidly  increasing  population  of  the  United  States.* 
Between  1814  and  1838,  whilst  the  population  of  the 
Union  has  little  more  than  doubled,  it  has  quadrupled  it- 
self. Should  its  increase  continue  at  this  rate,  it  would  in 
fifty  years  outnumber  the  mother  Church,  and  before  the 
end  of  a  century  would  embrace  a  majority  of  all  the 
people  of  the  West.  What  is  there  but  Avant  of  faith  to 
limit  this  progress,  or  to  prevent  its  dispensing  every  spirit- 
ual and  social  blessing  to  the  busy  people  round  it  ?  To 
say  that  it  is  beset  by  peculiar  dangers,  is  only  to  assert  of 
it  that  which  may  be  said  of  the  Church  Catholic  at  every 
period  since  her  first  foundation.  Never  has  she  been  free 
from  danger ;  never  has  it  seemed  less  than  imminent  and 
menacing.  At  one  time,  persecution  from  Avithout  has 
threatened  to  beat  down  and  root  it  out ;  at  another,  heresy 
has  raised  against  her  its  parti-colored  banner,  and  seemed 
ready  to  swallow  up  the  faithful.  Schism  has  sometimes 
divided  her  ;  and  sometimes  the  friendship  of  the  world 
and  the  fair  speech  of  men  has  almost  robbed  her  of  her 
jealous  love  for  truth,  and  sullied  her  virgin  holiness.  Yet 
in  all  trials,  and  through  all  opposition,  God  has  ever  held 
her  up.  And  so  it  must  be  ;  ever  ready  to  fail,  but  never 
failing  ;  leaving,  it  may  be,  one  land,  to  rise  with  new 
splendor  on  another ;  out  of  Aveakness  waxing  strong :  this 
has  been,  and  this  must  be,  her  course.  This  was  foretold 
of  her  when  it  pleased  our  Lord  to  show  to  His  first  Twelve 
the  shadow  which  her  long-after  history  cast  forward  : 
"  Then  shall  many  be  oflended,  and  shall  betray  one 
another,  and  hate  one  another  :  and  many  false  prophets 
shall  rise,  and  shall  deceive  many.  And  because  iniquity 
shall  abound,  the  love  of  many  shall  wax  cold.  But  lie 
that  shall  endure  unto  the  end,  the  same  shall  be  saved. 
And  this  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all 
the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations,  and  then  shall  the 
end  come." 

So  it  has  been,  and  so  it  must  be  to  the  end.     Always 

*  Caswall's  America,  p.  386. 


CONCLUSION.  327 

is  there  trial  enoufrh  to  betray  the  ungodly  and  the  iu- 
sincere;  always  is  the  danger  enough  in  following  Christ 
to  lead  the  hall-hearted  to  go  over  to  the  world's  side :  but 
ever  is  there  in  Christ's  presence  and  in  Christ's  promises 
strength  enough  to  hold  up  them  that  will  cleave  to  Him. 
And  so  it  will  be  until  He  come  again  :  for  He  has  ibiuided 
His  Church  upon  a  rock  ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  her. 


APPENDIX. 


The  editor  of  this  American  edition  of  Bishop  Wilberforce's  History 
of  the  Church  in  these  United  States,  published  the  annexed  sermon 
on  "Communion  of  Saints,"  more  than  a  year  since.  He  had  never 
seen  the  bishop's  book  nor  knew  any  thing  of  its  contents.  He 
has  carefully  looked  over  the  statements  made  by  him  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery,  and  cannot  find  a  single  error  in  any  particular. 
"Within  the  last  year  the  sin  and  evils  of  slavery  have  been  most 
ably  set  forth  in  resolutions  and  addresses  to  the  public  of  the  slave- 
holding  States  themselves.  I  have  before  me  the  resolutions  of  a 
convention  of  delegates  in  Kentucky,  assembled  in  Frankfort,  the 
capital  of  the  State,  on  the  25tli  of  April,  1S49.  The  first  resolution 
is  as  follows:  "  1.  Believing  that  hereditary  slavery,  as  it  exists  by 
the  laws  of  Kentucky,  is  injurious  to  the  commonwealth,  inconsistent 
with  the  fundamental  principles  of  a  free  government,  and  opposed 
to  the  rightx  of  mankind,  it  therefore  ought  not  to  be  perpetuated." 
This  i3  speaking  quite  as  plainly  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  as  Bishop 
TV.  does  in  any  expression  of  his,  or,  as  does  the  author  of  the  ser- 
mon annexed.  This  convention  was  attended  by  many  distinguished 
persons  of  all  parties  and  sects ;  some  preachers  made  very  able 
exposition  of  the  sin  and  evils  of  slavery.  Where  was  the  testimony 
of  either  branch  of  the  Church,  holding  "  par  excellence,"  the  doctrine 
of  "  the  Communion  of  Saints."  Where  was  the  Bishop  of  Bards- 
town,  or  the  Bishop  of  Kentucky  ?  Their  voices  are  not  heard  in 
defence  of  "  the  rights  of  mankind,"  to  say  nothing  of  "  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free." 


*'  QL\)c  Communiott  of  Saints,' 


DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED    IN 

ST.  MICHAEL'S   CHURCH, 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 
ON  SUNDAY,  THE  26th  OF  MARCH,  A.  D.  1848. 

BY 

EVAN  M.  JOHNSON, 

RECTOR. 


I 


The  author  of  this  discourse  is  not  a  member  of  any  Colonization,  or 
Anti-Slavery,  or  Abolition  Society  whatever,  and  fully  believes  all 
these  would  be  unnecessary,  if  the  Catholic  Church  would  do  as  she 
ought  It  is  with  the  humble  hope  of  calling  the  attention  of  Her 
members  to  what  he  esteems  a  neglected  duty  that  he  is  induced  to 
publish  this. 


DISCOUESE. 


1  COR..  XII.,  13   AND  14,  25,  26  and  2*7  verses. 

"  For  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether  we 
be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  we  be  bond  or  free,  and  have  been  all 
made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit ;  for  the  body  is  not  one  member,  but 
many ;  that  the  members  sliould  have  the  same  care  one  for  another 
and  whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the  memV>ers  suffer  with  it.  Now 
ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  members  in  particular." 

In  the  Apostle's  Creed,  Christians  are  taught  to  believe 
in  "  The  Holy  Catholic  Church  ;  The  Communion  of 
Saints."  Every  one,  who  pretends  to  be  a  member  of  the 
one  Catholic  Church  in  the  world,  receives  each  and  every 
article  of  this  Creed  as  containing  a  truth  not  to  be  dis- 
puted— one  article  may  be  excepted.  He  that  rejects 
one,  denies  in  fact  the  whole.  For  instance,  if  a  person 
believe  every  other  Article  of  the  Creed  and  deny  the  ex- 
istence of  '  The  Holy  Ghost,'  he  is  an  heretic  ;  so,  if  he 
deny  the  existence  of  "  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  :  the 
Communion  of  Saints  ;"  he  is  an  heretic.  The  doctrine 
taught  by  these  clauses  in  the  Creed  and  as  more  fully  ex- 
plained in  other  Creeds  and  the  teaching  of  the  Church  is 
this,  that  the  Church  which  is  holy,  is  also  Catholic  ;  that 
is,  miiversal,  as  it  exists  in  the  whole  world.  It  is  one. 
However  separated  as  to  locality,  however  high  or  low  the 
station  in  life,  of  its  members,  or  however  they  may  differ 
as  to  their  ideas  of  the  supremacy  of  its  eartlili/  Head ;  it 
is  OxE,  as  it  is  the  body  of  Christ.  All  are  united  in  the 
beUef,  that  Christ  is  its  Divine  Head  ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
its  animating,   living   principle.      Individuals  have  been 


33'i  APPENDIX. 

and  are  made,  and  will  continue  to  be  made  members 
oi'  tills  one  body  of  Christ  by  Baptism.  "  For  by  one 
Spirit  we  are  all  baptised  into  one  body."  The  Head 
of  the  Church  instituted  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  Baptism, 
in  which  He  implants  (without  reference  to  the  htncss  of 
His  earthly  agent,)  through  His  Ministry  the  seed  of  Di- 
Vme  life  in  the  soul  of  man.  He  has  also  made  provision 
for  the  nurture  of  the  "plant  of  renown."  He  gives  His 
Holy''Spirit,  in  answer  to  the  sincere  prayers  of  the  mem- 
bers of  His  Body.  He  enables  them  to  confess  and  forsake 
their  sins — to  become  more  and  more  holy  and  blameless. 
He  feeds  their  souls  with  angel's  food,  "  the  manna  that 
came  down  from  heaven."  His  Body  is  to  them  "  nreat 
indeed  and  His  blood  drink  indeed."  Thus,  in  commun- 
ion with  Him  the  Head,  any  member  of  this  one  Church 
may  thro'  the  grace  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  become  one 
of  the  nvmiber  of  the  Sahits — any  member  of  this  one 
Church  may  by  neglect,  or  thoughtlessness,  or  sin,  or  way- 
wardness, drive  away  the  Holy  Spirit  and  never  enter 
into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  It  was  tlie  great  object  of  our 
adorable  Saviour  by  His  humiliation  1o  raise  our  lallen  hu- 
manity, that  any  of  our  race  may  be  enabled  1o  lieeome 
"  Sons  of  God."  Those,  who  in  this  one  Catholic  Church, 
do  cultivate  tlie  graces  of  the  Spirit  and  througli  obedience 
and  self  mortification  and  "  fasting"  and  "  praying  "  and 
"alms-giving"  and  "serving  God  day  and  night"  with 
sincerity  and  humble  obedience,  thus  showing  that  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  in  lliein,  are  called  S.'vixts. 
They  are  Holy,  in  a  very  peculiar  sense,  because  Christ 
is  Holy  and  they  are  one  with  Him.  "  He  in  them  and 
they  in  Him."  All  such,  wherever  they  may  be,  what- 
ever may  be  their  condition  in  life,  bond  or  free,  stand  in  a 
special  relation  to  one  another  as  members  of  the  great 
Body  of  which  He  is  Head.  This  relation  is  called  "  the 
Communion  of  Saints."  It  is  through  the  Spirit  of  "  the 
Father  and  the  Son,"  animating  the  whole  body  and  en- 
livening every  member  of  it,  that  Christ  communicates  His 
grace,  through  His  Sacraments  ;  and  it  is  by  the  same 
Spirit  that  believers  have  "  access  by  one  Spirit  to  the 
father."     As  the  Spirit  of  a  man  enlivens  the  body  of  a 


APPENDIX.  335 

man,  so  does  the  Holy  Spirit  enliven  the  whole  body  of  the 
Church.  Thus,  the  i'aithful  have  communion  one  w'ith 
another  and  with  Christ  the  Head,  ^'^^lether  then  Chris- 
tians believe  that  the  Bishop  of  Eome  or  the  Bisliop  of 
Constantinople  is  the  head  of  the  whole  Church,  or  j;hat 
there  is  but  one  Head  and  that  is  Christ  in  Heaven,  and 
that  each  Bishop  is  Head  of  the  subordinate  branch  com- 
mitted to  his  charcre,  and  that  each  individual  Christian 
holds  his  communion  with  the  srcat  Head  tlirougfh  his 
own  Bishop,  they  are  substantially  agreed  in  believing  this 
doctrine  of  "Communion  of  Saints."  If  we  look  into  the 
Scriptures  we  find  that  this  doctrhie  is  most  distinctly 
brought  to  view,  as  enforcing  various  duties  of  an  highly 
practical  character.  Our  Saviour  himself  said  to  liis  di.s- 
ciples,  "  A  ncAV  commandment  give  I  unto  you  that  ye 
love  one  another  ;  as  I  have  loved  you,  that  ye  also  love 
one  another ;  by  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my 
disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."  Says  the  Apos- 
tle, "  "We  being  many  are  one  body  in  Clirist,  and  every 
one  members  one  of  another.  Let  love  be  without  dis- 
simulation. Be  kindly  afiectioned  one  to  another,  with 
brotherly  love  ;  in  honor  preferring  one  another."  The 
same  Apostle  exhorts  the  members  of  Christ's  body  to 
"  bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fullil  tlie  law  of 
Christ" — again,  "we  are  members  one  of  another,  be  ye 
kind  to  one  another,  tender  hearted."  I  will  not  quote 
farther  from  the  Scriptures  on  tlxis  pouit.  Saints  in  all 
ages  of  the  Church  have  considered  these  and  such  lilve 
parts  of  Holy  ^Yrit,  as  enforcing  upon  them  the  discharge 
of  these  duties  and  the  exercise  of  these  aflections  thus 
prominently  brought  to  notice.  It  has  been  and  it  always 
will  be  the  most  decided  test  of  Christian  character,  the 
best  ex-idence  both  to  one's  self  and  to  others,  of  the  exi>- 
tence  and  growth  of  the  divine  life  or  of  its  decay,  thai, 
when  a  Christian  examines  himself,  lie  finds  he  discharges 
these  duties  and  exercises  these  aflections,  or  that  he  neg- 
lects the  one  and  does  not  cultivate  the  other.  A  person 
may  profess  to  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  "  the  Communion 
of  Saints" — that  all  Christians  are  one  in' Chi-ist  and  made 
partakers  of  His  nature  ;  if  he  do  not  di-scharge  the  duty 


336  APPENDIX. 

which  is  imposed  on  him,  by  the  "Word  of  God,  as  an  in- 
dividual member  of  this  one  body  of  Christ,  his  is  nothing 
else  than  profession — he  does  not  really  believe  the  doc- 
trine— he  deceives  himself 

In  all  ages  of  the  Church,  this  doctrine,  taught  by  the 
Saviftur  Himself  and  enforced  by  so  many  and  so  striking 
passages  of  G-od's  w^ord,  has  powerfully  influenced  the  mem- 
bers of  the  true  Church  of  Christ  and  inspired  them  with 
feelings  of  deep  commiseration  for  the  oppressed,  and  with 
determined  exertions  for  their  relief.  In  the  first  centuries 
a  community  of  sufi"ering  among  Christians  produced  also 
a  community  of  commiseration,  and  whenever  any  were 
released  from  their  persecution,  or  oppression,  or  bondage, 
they  immediately  sought  to  obtain  the  relief  of  others,  who 
with  them  were  one  in  Christ.  I  have  time  only  to  state 
a  few  historical  facts  to  confirm  this  statement.  About  the 
year  340  after  Christ,  a  canon  had  been  passed  strictly 
prohibiting  the  appropriation  of  the  sacred  vessels  of  the 
sanctuary  to  any  secular  purpose.  St.  Ambrose  of  Milan, 
to  redeem  captives,  when  no  other  means  could  be  obtained, 
sold  the  sacred  vessels  and  utensils  of  the  Church,  to  make 
provision  for  Avhat  he  called  "  the  living  temples  of  God." 
He  speaks  in  his  own  defence,  and  personifying  the  Saviour, 
he  says,  "  the  ornament  of  my  Sacraments  is  the  redemp- 
tion of  captives."  St.  Austin  disposed  of  the  plate  of  his 
Church  for  "  the  redemption  of  captives."  In  an  after 
age,  when  the  Northern  herds  overran  the  Roman  Empire, 
making  slaves  of  those  they  captured,  the  power  of  the 
Church  was  soon  brought  to  bear  upon  these  ferocious 
barbarians.  As  soon  as  they  became  Christians  they  were 
compelled  to  release  their  slaves.  See  too,  in  the  contests 
of  the  Bishops  and  the  Church  of  England,  with  the  Nor- 
man Kings  ;  they  held  in  abject  slavery  almost  the  whole 
population  of  England.  The  Bishops  were  the  Iriends  of 
the  oppressed,  and  some  even  sacrificed  their  lives  in  be- 
half of  oppressed  humanity.  We  have  an  eminent  instance 
in  the  modern  history  of  the  Church,  where,  really  believ- 
ing the  doctrine  of  "  Communion  of  Saints,"  and  acting 
under  the  influence  of  its  truth,  St.  Vincent  of  Paul  2')er- 
mitted  himself  to  be  made  a  slave,  that  he  might  go  and 


APPENDIX.  337 

carry  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel  to  those  who  had  been 
made  slaves  for  their  crimes.  For  many  centuries  it  con- 
tinued to  be  the  Church's  rule,  that  whenever  a  slave  be- 
came converted  and  was  baptized,  he  became  a  free  man.* 
From  these  few  facts,  selected  from  many  hundreds  of  the 
like  kind,  we  are  sure,  that  many  of  the  most  eminent 
Saints,  of  all  ages  of  the  Church,  have  been  the  friends  of 
the  oppressed — have  done  what  they  could  to  mitigate 
the  evils  of  slavery,  and,  whenever  it  was  possible,  to  re- 
lease men  from  bondage.  "VTe  see  not  how  they  could  have 
done  otherwise,  if  they  really  believed  that  every  indivi- 
dual, whether  bond  or  free,  that  had  been  renewed  after 
the  image  of  Christ  and  been  received  into  his  Church,  had 
become  a  part  of  himself;  of  the  body  of  which  He  is  Head. 
"  If  one  member  sufi'ered,  the  other  members  suflered 
with  it." 

There  are  in  these  United  States  about  three  millions 
of  persons  of  African  extraction.  The  ancestors  of  these 
people  were  brought  here  from  Africa,  as  slaves.  In  these 
northern  States  slavery  has  gradually  been  abolished  ;  in 
some  of  the  western  States  it  has  never  existed.  These 
descendants  of  Africans  with  us  are  all  said  to  be  free.  In 
the  southern  States,  slavery  exists,  as  it  ever  has,  in  all  its 
rigor.  Some  few  colored  persons  are  free,  so  called  ;  but 
so  great  are  the  difficulties,  created  by  the  law,  of  libera- 
ting slaves,  that  the  number  of  free  persons  of  color  dimin- 
ishes rather  than  increases.!  It  is  computed  that  there 
are  two  and  a  half  millions  of  slaves  and  four  hundred 
thousand  of  free  persons  of  color  in  these  United  States. 
In  these,  there  are  twenty-seven  Prelates  of  the  Roman 
Communion  and  twenty-nine  of  the  Anghcan  Communion  ; 
the  one  holding  their  Apostolical  succession  through  the 
Roman  branch  of  the  Church  ;  the  other  through  the  An- 
glican. There  are  subject  to  the  former  eight  hundred 
and  ninety-two  Priests,  and  to  the   latter  about  fourteen 

•  In  some  of  the  Southern  States  this  humane  provision  of  the 
Christian  law  has  been  expressly  repealed  by  Statute. 

f  In  many  Slave  States  it  is  unlawful  to  manumit  a  slave  unless 
he  consent  to  go  out  of  the  state ;  or,  I  believe  m  some  cases,  he 
must  go  to  Liberia. 

15 


338  APPENDIX. 

hundred  and  twenty-seven,  making  in  all  fifty-six  Prelates 
and  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  nineteen  clergy  in. 
these  United  States. 

Many  thousands  of  our  most  distinguished  public  men, 
men  of  influence  and  character,  belong  to  one  or  other  of 
these  communions  and  attend  upon  the  public  ministry  or 
service  of  these  prelates  and  clergy.  These  all,  both  clergy 
and  laity,  in  their  daily  or  weekly  religious  service,  before 
God's  holy  altar,  in  his  Church,  renew  their  oaths  of  fidelity 
to  Him  and  the  Church,  by  repeating  the  Apostle's  Creed 
and  say,  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church;  the 
Communion  of  Saints." 

Now,  I  would  ask,  how  have  those,  who  pi'ofess  this 
faith,  discharged  the  duties  which  we  have  seen  are  re- 
quired by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  towards  this  class  of  their 
fellow  christians  and  fellow  men  ?  Here,  in  these  northern 
States,  free  States,  so  called,  what  is  the  actual  and  true 
state  of  the  case,  as  regards  the  colored  people.  I  will  not 
speak  of  their  deprivation  of  many  civil  rights,  which  all 
others  enjoy,  but  I  shall  speak  oi'  their  religious  privileges. 
Here,  in  many  of  our  cities,  we  have  established  colored 
churches  with  colored  persons  in  Holy  Orders  to  serve  in 
them.  Now,  why  was  this  separation  of  Christians  made, 
and  why  continued  on  account  of  color  ?  Is  it  not  pur- 
posely to  keep  these  latter  in  a  separate  external  commu- 
nion? Is  it  not  on  purpose  to  perpetuate  caste  in  the 
Christian  Church?  Indeed,  this  is  all  but  openly  avowed 
in  the  report  of  the  connnittee  of  the  convention  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  New- York,  upon  the  application  of 
one  of  these  Churches  to  be  admitted  to  the  convention.* 

Who  would  say  that  the  colored  Churches  enjoy  the 
same  privileges  as  Churches,  or  that  the  individuals  com- 
posing them  take  the  same  rank  as  Christians,  as  the  • 
members  of  white  Churches,  or  of  those  individuals  belong- 
ing to  white  Chui-ches  ?  Tlien,  what  shall  w^e  say  of 
those  persons  of  color  admitted  to  Holy  Orders  ?  We  have 
a  Theological  Seminary,  where  it  is  thought  the  Students 
enjoy  peculiar   advantages  of  a  literary  and  theological 

*  Appendix  A. 


APtENDlX.  339 

nature,  and  where  some  think  their  religious  and  pious 
habits  are  improved  and  strengthened.  To  this  Seminary, 
a  young  man  of  color,  though  he  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  both  with  water  and  the 
Spirit — though  he  have  received  grace  and  strength  by 
the  imposition  of  the  chief  pastor's  hands — though  he  have 
received  the  body  and  blood  of  his  once  sacrificed  Saviour 
and  Lord — 'though  thus  his  humanity  is  exalted  to  a  par- 
ticipation of  the  Divine  Nature,  and  though  he  be  hereby 
enabled  to  live  godly,  righteously  and  soberly,  yet  he  can- 
not be  admitted  because  his  skin  is  not  as  clear  and  his 
complexion  as  bright  as  others,  who  are  permitted  to  en- 
joy these  opportunities  for  intellectual,  moral  and  religious 
improvement  ?  "What  a  comment  this  upon  the  doctrine 
of  "  Communion  of  Saints  !"  Such  are  compelled  to  seek 
their  education  where  best  they  can  obtain  it. — When 
such  have  received  Holy  Orders,  they  are  empowered  to 
admit  members  into  this  Holy  Fellowship  of  which  we 
have  spoken  ;  to  "  remit  or  retain  sins  ;"  to  ofier  the  Holy 
Sacrifice  on  God's  Altar,  and  to  distribute  to  penitent  sin- 
ners the  bread  of  life.  They  are  to  stand  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  Christ  at  His  Altar,  to  intercede  for  the  people. 
This  is  their  high  calling  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  But 
they  can  only  do  this  in  the  presence  of  colored  persons  ; 
to  permit  such  to  minister  in  white  congregations  would, 
even  now  by  many,  be  considered  an  outrage  upon  decency.* 
How  is  this  feeling  and  this  practice  at  variance  with  the 
doctrine  of  "  Communion  of  Saints."  How  earnest  should 
be  our  prelates  and  clerg}'  to  enforce  upon  their  hearers 
the  importance  of  carrying  out  the  principles  involved  in 
the  behef  of  this  doctrine.  The  Church  with  us  should 
take  the  lead  in  abolishing  all  those  remaining  distinctions 
on  account  of  color,  which  interfere  with  a  cordial  recep- 
tion of  this  doctrine  and  the  full  enjoyment  of  every  Chris- 

•  In  one  of  our  northern  Churclies,  the  priest  happened  accident- 
ally, on  administering  the  Holy  Elements  at  the  Communion,  to  de- 
liver them  to  a  colored  communicant  when  one  white  woman  had  not 
received — she  rejected  the  offered  bread,  because  it  had  not  first 
been  given  her.  This  produced  such  a  prejudice  against  the  pastor 
that  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  place. 


340  APPENDIX.  '. 

tian  and  Spiritual  privilege  by  each  member  of  the  Body 
of  Christ.     If  the  laity  are  brought  to   see  their  duty  as 
Cliristians,  they  will  soon  be  convinced  of  it  as  States- 
men ;  then,  all  those  laws  which  tend   to  continue  caste, 
and  all  those  customs  which  pepetuate  it,  will  soon,  with 
us,  be  done  away.     Of  the  whole  number  of  prelates  and 
clergy  in  both   branches   of  the   Catholic   Church,  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  are  now  exercising  their  holy 
functions  and  preaching  the  gospel  of  "  peace   and  good 
will"   among  men  in  the   southern  part  of  this   Union. 
Their  congregations   are  composed,  for  the  most  pai't,  of 
persons  of  influence  and  intelligence.     Indeed,  I  think  we 
may  say  that  if  we   consider  the  Anglican  Church  as  it 
exists  in  most  of  these  states,  and  the  Roman  Church  as  it 
exists  in   Maryland,    Louisiana  and   Missouri,   it  may  be 
affirmed  with  confidence,  that  the  persons  who  atteud  on 
the  congregations  connected  with  these  Churches  exercise 
a  great  influence,  and  if  united  on  this  one  subject,  would 
exercise  a  controlling  power  over  the  civil  and  religious  in- 
stitutions there  existing.     Let  it  be  remembered  that  it  is 
professed  by  all  these  persons,    "  I  believe   in   the  Holy 
Catholic  Church  ;  the  Communion  of  Saints."     Within  the 
part  of  the  country  where  this  doctrine  is  or  ought  to  be 
proclaimed  are,  as  we  have  said,  two  and  a  half  millions 
of  slaves.     I  am  willing  to  admit  that  many  of  these  clergy 
do  labor  for  the   spiritual  good  of  this  colored  race — all 
thanks  and  all  praise  be  to  them  for  this.     Let  us  consider 
under  what  disadvantages  these  labor  in  prosecuting  their 
"labor  of  love."      I  am  compelled  to  bring  into  view  the 
state  of  the  slave  laws  as  they  exist,  to  show  that  so  long 
as  these  laws  remain  in  force,  but  little  hope  need  be  en- 
tertained of  any  success  in  extending  the  Catholic  Church 
among  those  who  are  subjected  to  them.     God  forbid  that 
I  shoiald  refer  to  them  for  the  sake  of  exciting  hostility  or 
hatred   towards   those  who   permit  them  to  remain,  but 
rather,  should  this  discourse  ever  reach  such  as  these,  to 
exhort  them  to  labor  day  and  night  for  their  amelioration 
or  repeal.     From  a  work  written  by  a  lawyer  condensing 
the  laws  by  whicia  slaves  and  people  of  color  are  govenred, 
(for  there  is  one  set  of  laws  for  whites  and  another  for 


■^  APPENDIX.  341 

blacks,  even  thoiif^h  they  be  free,)  I  make  extract  of  the 
following  propositions,  which  bring  prominently  to  view 
the  general  character  of  these  laws. 

I.  "The  master  may  determine  the  kind  and  degree 
of  labor  to  which  the  slave  shall  be  subjected. 

II.  The  master  may  supply  the  slave  with  such  food 
and  clothing  only,  both  as  to  quantity  and  quality,  as  he 
may  think  proper  or  (Ind  convenient. 

III.  The  master  may,  at  his  discretion,  inflict  any 
punishment  upon  the  person  of  his  slave. 

IV.  All  the  power  of  the  master  over  his  slave  may 
be  exercised,  not  by  himself  only  in  person,  but  by  any  one 
whom  he  may  depute  as  his  agent. 

V.  Slaves  have  no  legal  right  of  property  in  things, 
real  or  personal ;  but  whatever  they  may  acquire  belongs, 
in  point  of  law,  to  their  masters. 

VI.  The  slave,  being  a  personal  chattel,  is  at  all  times 
liable  to  be  sold  absolutely,  or  mortgaged,  or  leased,  at  the 
will  of  his  master. 

VII.  He  may  be  sold,  by  process  of  law,  for  the  satis- 
faction of  the  debts  of  a  living,  or  the  debts  and  bequests 
of  a  deceased  master,  at  the  suit  of  creditors  or  legatees. 

VIII.  A  slave  cannot  be  a  party  before  a  judicial  tri- 
bunal, in  any  species  of  action,  against  his  master,  no 
matter  how  atrocious  may  have  been  the  injury  received 
from  him. 

IX.  Slaves  cannot  redeem  themselves  nor  obtain  a 
change  of  master,  though  cruel  treatment  may  have  ren- 
dered such  a  change  necessary  for  their  personal  safety. 

X.  Slaves,  being  objects  of  property,  if  injured  by  third 
persons,  their  owners  may  bring  suit  for  the  injury. 

XL  Slaves  can  make  no  contract. 
XII.  Slavery  is  hereditary  and  perpetual." 
All  the  laws  to  regulate  the  intercourse  between  slaves 
and  their  masters  are  based  upon  these  propositions. 
These  laws  are  exceedingly  severe  in  the  penalties  which 
they  inflict.  They  recognize  the  unlimited  right  of  the 
master  over  the  person  of  his  slaves,  or  his  creditor,  or 
as.signee,  or  executor  to  sell  them  in  any  way,  young  or 
old,  married  or  unmarried,  to  be  transported,  if  the  pur- 


342  APPENDIX. 

chaser  will,  to  any  part  of  these  United  States  where  sla- 
very is  established.  Hence,  it  often  happens  that  such 
sales  are  made  solely  with  reference  to  the  greatest  amount 
of  money  to  he  realized.  If  this  can  be  effected  by  the 
separation  of  father  and  mother  from  their  children  or  from 
one  another,  it  is  done  without  scruple.*  In  most  of  the 
principal  cities  from  Baltimore  to  the  extreme  south,  there 
are  slave  marts,  where  hundreds  and  thousands,  young 
and  old,  are  exposed  for  sale  by  those  who  have  purchased 
them  on  speculation.  I  will  mention  no  other  of  the  many, 
many  hardships  and  sufleriugs  which  slaves  are  called  to 
endure  under  the  operation  of  these  laws.  Those  who  are 
called  free  persons  of  color,  though  they  may  not  be  sold 
as  others  are,  yet  are  under  the  most  rigid  restraints,  and 
are  governed  by  laws  almost  as  severe.  To  all  persons  of 
color,  either  slaves  or  free,  it  is  unlawful  to  communicate 
the  elements  of  learning.  The  individual  who  instructs 
such  to  read  or  write,  is  liable  to  conviction  as  a  public 
offender. — But,  my  hearers,  I  Avill  go  no  farther  into  detail ; 
it  is  a  subject  on  which  I  dehght  not  to  dwell ;  I  have  said 
enough  to  show  you  what  is  the  real  condition  of  colored 
people  in  our  southern  States.  Recollect,  then,  that  some 
of  these  very  persons  haA'^e  been  baptized  into  the  Body  of 
Christ,  have  received  His  Body  and  His  Blood  and  are  one 
with  Him  and  one  with  us,  as  the  members  of  His  one 
Body.  He  died  to  redeem  them  as  well  as  us — to  raise 
their  fallen  humanity,  that  they  may  become  Saints  here 
and  heirs  of  His  kingdom  hereatler.  Such,  no  doubt,  some 
of  them  are. 

In  view  of  all  this,  let  us  look  at  the  practical  operation 

*  An  acquaintance  was  travelling  in  Virginia — lie  met  a  large 
number  of  youths  of  both  se.xes,  from  ten  to  fourteen  years  of  age. 
They  were  under  the  cliarge  of  drivers.  He  said,  "  where  bound  ?" 
"To  Alabama."  "These  slaves  are  all  young,"  said  our  friend.  "0. 
yes !  we  find  it  most  profitable  to  buy  young  negroes  and  take  ad- 
vantage of  their  growth."  Some  of  these  children  perhaps,  had 
Christian  parents,  and  had  been,  by  Christ's  ministers,  "  baptised 
into  His  Body,"  made  His  "children  and  inheritors  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven."  They  were  torn  from  their  parents  and  consigned  over 
to  the  drivers,  to  be  sold  on  speculation.  What  an  awful  thought, 
to  sell  and  make  merchandize  of  parts  of  the  Body  of  Christ !  1 1 


<{  APPENDIX.  343 

of  what  are  called  eflbrts  to  extend  the  Church  in  this 
quarter,  among  these  people.  Bishops  and  Clergy  have 
not  been  found  in  any  great  number,  who  defend  this  sys- 
tem. Many  are  the  number  of  those  who  are  doing  what 
they  can  to  instruct  these  oppressed  human  beings.  Some 
of  our  Bisliops  have  framed  catechisms,  to  be  taught  them 
orally.  Many  of  our  Clergy  labor  among  these  people,  by 
teaching  them  to  I'epeat  their  catechisms,  to  join  7iiemori- 
ter  in  parts  of  the  Church  service,  and  they  read  and 
explain  to  them  the  Scriptures.  According  to  their  re- 
ports, they  succeed  frequently  in  adding  numbers  of  such 
to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and  we  hope  to  the 
Communion  of  Saints.  They  tell  them,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  truly  penitent  sinner  to  be  baptised  with  water 
and  the  Spirit,  and  to  give  liis  chddren  to  God,  that  in 
Holy  Baptism  they  may  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  be  grafted  into  the  Body  of  Christ.  Those  who  are  fit 
to  be  confirmed,  he  presents  to  the  Bishop  for  confirmation. 
Such  young  persons  as  come  to  him  desiring  to  be  united 
in  Holy  Matrimony,  he  marries.  Those  that  give  evidence 
that  "Christ  is  in  them,"  and  who  lead  holy  and  godly 
lives,  he  admits  to  partake  of  the  ever  blessed  Sacrament 
of  His  Body  and  Blood. 

Trace  now  the  progress  of  a  single  indiAadual  through 
this  training  of  the  Church.  In  infancy,  he  is  baptized ; 
his  pai'ents  or  sponsors  were  made  to  promise  that  he  shall 
be  taught  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments ;  that  he  shall,  at  a  suitable  age,  be  brought  to 
the  Bishop  to  be  confirmed  by  him.  When  he  cotaes  to 
confirmation,  the  Bishop  says:  "Defend  this  thy  servant 
with  thy  heavenly  grace  ;  may  he  continue  thine  for  ever, 
and  daily  increase  in  thy  Holy  Spirit  more  and  more,  until 
he  come  to  thine  everlasting  kingdom."  He  comes  to  his 
Pastor  to  be  united  in  Holy  Matrimony,  and  he  is  made  to 
promise  to  live  with  his  partner  till  death  do  them  part. 
I  ask,  how  can  a  minister  of  the  Church  require  these 
promises  of  his  Christian  brethren,  when  he  knows  that 
the  children  do  not  belong  to  the  parent,  nor  wives  to  their 
husbands,  and  that  at  the  will  of  the  master,  or  in  conse- 
quence of  his  embarrassment,  or  debt,  these  ties  may  at 


314  APPENDIX.  ^ 

once  be  rent  asunder ;  the  father  sold  to  one,  the  mother 
to  another,  the  children  to  others,  and  all  perhaps  to  go  to 
Texas  or  other  parts,  where  they  can  never  enjoy  the  small 
Christian  privileges  which  they  have  have  had? 

How  discouraging  this  to  a  minister  if  he  have  a  real 
and  firm  belief  in  this  doctrine  of  Communiou  of  Saints. 
What  a  damper  must  this  thought,  that  all  these  promises 
and  all  these  exhortations  may  have  been  made  or  given 
for  noujjht,  cast  over  all  his  eiibrts.* 


*  I  wish  to  enforce  this  idea  with  a  few  examples.  Bishop  Meads 
of  Virginia,  one  of  our  Evang-ehcal  Bisliops,  was  once  a  slaveholder. 
He  has  given  his  slaves  fieedoni  on  condition,  of  course,  that  they 
leave  the  state ;  some  have  gone  to  Liberia.  Now  I  do  not  know 
whether  Bishop  M.  believes  the  Catholic  doctrine,  but  I  suppose  he 
holds  a  doctrine  of  "Communion  of  Saints."  Suppose  one  of  his 
bretlu'en  in  Christ,  when  lie  offered  to  liim  the  alternative  of  perpe- 
tual banishment  fioni  his  home,  his  family  and  his  friends,  or  else 
continued  slavery,  had  said  "  my  dear  pastor,  you  taught  me  that 
as  a  Christian  I  must  do  to  others  as  I  would  have  them  do  to  me. 
Now,  how  would  you  like  to  have  banishment  or  slavery  offered  to 
you,  and  you  be  compelled  to  choose  either  one  or  the  other?"  Says 
the  Bishop,  "  But  you  know  that  the  law  is  such,  I  cannot  give  you 
freedom  except  on  this  condition."  Says  the  slave,  "  But  who  makes 
and  alters  laws  ?  what  have  you  said  or  done  to  try  to  procure  the 
repeal  of  such  a  law  ?"     What  could  the  Bisliop  say  ? 

Go  a  little  farther  South.  Here  resides  our  Evangelical  brother 
Barnwell  of  Charleston,  S.  C.  He  established  a  paper  to  dissemi- 
nate the  blessed  doctrine  of  God's  sovereign  grace.  Would  not  his 
paper  have  been  more  useful,  had  it  inculcated  the  doctrine  of 
"  Communion  of  Saints  ?"  He  and  his  congregation,  which  is  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  and  influential  laymen  in 
the  State,  have  contributed  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum,  to 
support  Bishop  Boone  in  China.  Suppose  an  intelligent  Chinaman 
were  to  say  to  Bishop  B. :  "  Is  it  true,  that  in  the  country  from  which 
you  came  to  convert  us  to  your  religion,  millions  of  men,  women  and 
children  are  slaves — have  no  rights  as  men  and  are  bought  and  sold 
like  beasts  of  burden  ?"  He  would  be  compelled  to  say  '•  yes."  He 
might  be  asked,  "  Did  you  raise  your  voice  against  this  evil  ?  Do 
those  who  send  you  here,  strive  to  procure  the  repeal  of  those  laws, 
which,  heathens  as  wo  are,  we  sliould  reject  with  horror  ?"  What 
could  Bishop  B.  say  to  this  ? 

Qo  a  little  farther  South.  We  find  that  Bishop  Elliott  established 
a  literary  institution  where  young  men  were  to  be  educated  for  the 
ministry,  to  be  supported  by  slave  labor.  Suppose  Bishop  E.  to 
have  succeeded  in  the  conversion  of  some  of  these  slave  laborers, 
might  not  one  have  said,  "  Bishop  E.  is  it  not  hard  for  one,  whom 


f  APPENDIX.  345 

What  then  is  to  be  done  when  such  a  slate  of  thincs 
exists  in  the  CatlioHc  Church  ?  We  apprehend  the  mis- 
sion oi'  these  Prelates  and  these  Clerg:y  is  first  of  all  to  the 
whites  ;  to  those  who  wield  the  power  of  rnakinj^  and  al- 
tering the  laws.  The  excuse,  usually  made  by  the  Clergy 
to  justify  those  practices  which  seem  to  be,  and  really  are, 
inconsistent  with  the  divine  precept  of  "  doing  unto  others 
as  we  would  \\'ish  they  would  do  unto  us,"  is,  that  they 
must  submit  to  the  civil  law.  Granted — but  who  makes 
the  law  ?  Do  not  the  members  of  the  Catholic  Church 
constitute  a  large  proportion  of  law  makers  ?  The  Clergy 
should  constantly,  unitedly,  and  perseveringly,  insist  upon 
the  repeal  of  every  law,  ivhirli  imposes  a  burden  on  tlieir 
Christian  slave  brethren,  that  they  tcould  not  ivillingly 
submit  to,  if  tiiey  were  slaves  themselves. 

The  painful  question  now  comes  up,  how  has  this 
duty,  in  our  whole  country  been  discharged?     Where  have 


you  call  a  brother  in  Ghrist,  to  work  hard  witli  no  pay,  to  be  exposed 
to  all  the  hardships  of  the  slave  law,  not  to  be  even  the  owner  of  his 
wife  and  children,  that  these  young  men  may  be  educated  to  preach 
the  gospel  of  peace  and  good  will  ?"'  He  would  say,  "  It  is  so  in- 
deed, but  the  law  is  so  and  I  cannot  help  it."  He  might  say, 
"  What  have  you  done  or  said  in  opposition  to  this  law,  where 
have  you  protested  against  this  injustice  done  to  your  fellow  Chris- 
tians ?" 

Go  farther  South.  Bishop  Polk,  who  is  said  to  be  a  most  amiable 
person,  is  the  owner  (so  reported)  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  slaves. 
We  have  no  reason  to  think  that  he  does  not  attend  to  their  spiri- 
tual and  temporal  interest  as  a  kind  master  should.  Suppose  one 
of  these  of  the  number  of  his  own  communicants,  one  whom  he  hira 
self  had  baptized  and  confirmed  and  admitted  to  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
should  say,  "  My  dear  master,  I  feel  my  situation  to  be  very  inse- 
cure, at  present ;  I  am  happy  under  your  care ;  I  have  the  company 
of  mv  wife  and  children  ;  but  suppose  death  were  to  remove  you  or 
misfortune  to  overtake  you,  then,  what  is  to  become  of  me  and 
mine  S  Where,  then,  will  be  the  Christian  privileges  which  I  now 
enjoy  as  a  member  of  the  Body  of  Christ  ?"  The  Bishop  might  say, 
"  I  know  the  laws  which  prevail  here,  are  severe  and  seem  to  be  at 
variance  with  the  teaching  and  practice  of  the  Churcli,  but  I  did  not 
make  them."  "  But  who  sits  still  and  permits  these  laws  to  remain 
in  all  their  severity?  What  have  you  even  said  or  done  to  call 
the  attention  of  Christian  people  to  their  enormity  and  effect  their 
repeal  ?" 

15* 


346  APPENDIX.  ) 

been  the  Prelates,  where  the  Clergy,  of  either  branch  of  the 
Church,  that  have  had  the  Christian  fortitude  and  bold- 
ness, fearlessly  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  Communion  of 
Saints,  and  insist  upon  the  discharge,  by  the  members  of 
their  flocks,  of  the  duties  required  by  its  belief?  There 
have  not  been  wanthig  those  who  have  palliated  and  ex- 
cused these  customs  and  these  laws  in  the  United  States, 
by  which  one  class  of  Christian  brethren  in  tlie  North  are 
purposely  kept  as  a  distinct,  separate  and  neglected  people  ; 
in  the  South  are  oppressed  with  bondage  "  grievous  to  be 
borne,"  and  are  compelled  to  submit  to  laws  and  injuries 
a  parallel  to  Avhich  cannot  be  found  upon  earth.* 

But  where  have  been  the  exhortations,  the  counsel,  and 
the  instructions  of  the  Clergy  of  the  Church  ?  In  the 
Pastoral  Letters  of  our  House  of  Bishops,  which  ought  to 
have  great  influence  in  this  land,  we  look  in  vain  for  an 
allusion  to  this  subject.! 

These  laws  and  these  uncatholic  practices  have  existed 
since  our  country  called  itself  free  and  independent.  When 
and  where  has  any  portion  of  the  Church,  through  its  ac- 
credited organs,  the  Bislaops  and  the  conventions  within  its 
boundaries,  entered  its  solemn  protest  against  this  oppres- 
sion and  degradation  of  some  portion  of  her  own  members, 
even  the  members  of  the  Body  of  Christ  ?  It  is  not  to  be 
desired  that  the  Church,  as  a  Church,  should  enter  upon  a 
crusade  against  slavery,  and  should  denounce  all  those, 
who,  perhaps  not  by  their  own  consent,  are  owners  of 
slaves.  But  she  ought,  where  slavery  does  exist,  to  insist 
that  the  laws  should  be  so  altered,  as  to  give  to  her  color- 
ed members  the  privileges  to  which  they  are  entitled  as 
co-members  with  themselves  of  the  "  Body  of  Christ," 
and  where  it  does  not  exist,  that  all  those  practices,  and 
customs,  and  exclusions,  be  abolished,  which  tend  to  sepa- 
rate one  Christian  flock  from  communion,  as  Christians, 
with  another. 

If  the  united  voice  of  the  Church  were  put  forth  it 
would  be  heard,  it  would  be  regarded.     If  the  exertions  of 

*  Even  in  Cuba  tlie  laws  are  far  lesa  severe, 
t  Appendix  B. 


c 


APPENDIX.  347 


every  Catholic  in  this  land  were  directed  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  slave  and  to  elevate  the  character  of  the 
colored  people — if  their  prayers  were  unitedly  to  ascend 
before  His  throne  in  whose  hand  are  the  hearts  of  all  men, 
that  He  would  dispose  all  Christian  Rulers  to  "  do  justly, 
and  to  love  mercy,"  then  mifrht  we  hope  to  see  this  all  im- 
portant doctrine  of  "  the  Communion  of  Saints"  held,  not 
as  a  speculative  theory,  but  as  a  living,  acting,  and  influ- 
ential principle.     God  grant  that  we  may  live  to  see  this  I 


1 

> 


APPENDIX    TO    DISCOURSE. 


THE  CASE  OF  ST.  PHILIP'S  CHURCH,  N.  Y. 

A. — St.  Philip's  Church  in  the  year  a.  n.  1846,  made  application 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Chmxh  of  New 
York.  It  was  moved  by  the  Hon.  John  C.  Spencer  to  lay  the  sub- 
ject on  the  table.  This  was  not  carried,  the  vote  stood  :  Clergy,  ayes 
64  noes  88 — Laity,  Ayes  70  noes  54.  TJie  application  Avas  referred 
to  a  select  committee  to  report  to  the  convention,  consisting  of  Wm. 
H.  Harison,  Esq.,  Rev.  E.  M.  Johnson,  Rev.  Dr.  Sherwood,  the  Hon. 
J.  C.  Spencer  and  John  A.  King,  Esq.  Tlie  following  was  the  report 
of  a  majority  of  the  committee. 

REPORT  :    COJIJIITTEE  ON  ST.  PHILIp's  CHURCH. 

The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  subject  of  the  admission 
,of  St.  Philip's,  and  other  colored  congregations,  into  representation 
in  the  Convention  of  this  Diocese,  report : 

That  in  their  view,  the  question  referred  to  them  is  one  exclusively 
jrelating  to  the  temporal  government  of  the  Diocese,  and  is  wholly 
unconnected  with  the  religious  rights  or  duties  of  the  applicants. 
The  Convention  is  but  a  part  of  what  may  be  called  the  civil  ma- 
flhinerjs  instituted  by  himian  wisdom,  for  the  purpose  of  regulating 
the  Society,  by  which,  and  for  whose  benefit,  it  was  established.  It 
is  no  more  a  part  of  our  Church  in  this  country,  in  a  religious  view, 
than  are  the  civil  establishments  and  the  connection  with  the  govern- 
ment in  England,  part  of  the  Church  there.  In  both  countries  the 
arrangements  for  the  admiuistriition  of  the  government  of  the  Church 
^re  the  result  of  experience  and  adaptation  to  circumstances.  Among 
the  considerations  of  expediency,  which  any  body  of  men,  uniting 
-together  for  a  common  purpose,  would  deem  the  most  important, 
must  be  that  of  determining  with  whom  they  would  associate,  and 
who  should  be  permitted  to  participate  in  tlie  government  of  the 
Society.  Thus,  for  reasons  of  expediency,  females,  however  worthy, 
are  by  our  canons  excluded  fiom  being  representatives  in  our  Con- 
yention,  and  are,  by  law,  incapable  of  being  incorporated  as  meia- 


/*^ 


APPENDIX. 


349 


bers  of  Churches.  Candidates  for  orders,  are,  by  a  canon  of  the 
General  Convention,  pmliibited  from  beinj»  members  of  that  body. 
These  instances  are  sufiicient  to  illustrate  the  principle  on  which  our 
Church  organizations  are  founded,  and  to  show  that  tlieyare  entirely 
distinct  from  the  religious  rights  and  spiritual  privileges  of  those, 
M'ho,  ill  a  spiritual  view,  are  members  of  our  Churclies.  If  it  be  an 
incident  to  Church  membership  to  be  represented  in  tlie  councils  of 
tlie  Church,  then  have  we,  in  coumion  with  all  Christian  denomina- 
tions, from  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  unjustly  and  tyrannically  de- 
prived female  members  of  sacred  rights. 

"When  society  is  unfortunately  divided  into  classes — when  some 
are  intelligent,  refined,  and  elevated,  in  tone  and  character,  and 
others  are  ignorant,  coarse,  and  debaseil,  however  unjustly,  and 
when  such  prejudices  exist  between  them,  as  to  prevent  social  inter- 
course on  equal  terms,  it  would  seem  inexpedient  to  encounter  such 
prejudices,  unnecessarily,  and  endeavor  to  compel  the  one  class  to 
associate  on  equal  terms  in  the  consultations  on  the  affairs  of  the 
Diocese,  with  tliose  whom  they  would  not  admit  to  their  tables,  or 
into  their  family  circles — nay,  whom  they  would  not  admit  into 
their  pews,  during  public  worship.  If  Christian  duty  require  that 
we  should  in  all  respects,  treat  equally,  all  persons,  without  refer- 
ence to  their  social  condition,  should  we  not  commence  tiie  discharge 
of  that  duty  in  our  individual  and  social  relations?  And  is  it  not 
the  fact  that  we  have  never  so  regarded  our  duty  or  have  wilfully 
violated  it,  sufficient  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  state  of  society 
among  us  that  renders  an  amalgamation  of  such  discordant  mate- 
rials, impracticable,  if  not  hazardous  to  our  unity  and  harmony? 
We  deeply  sympathize  with  the  colored  race  in  our  C(juntry.  we  feel 
acutely  their  wroui^s,  and,  not  the  least  among  them,  their  social 
degradation.  But  this  cannot  prevent  our  seeing  the  fact,  that  they 
are  socially  degraded,  and  are  not  regarded  as  proper  associates  for 
the  class  of  persons  wlio  attend  our  Convention.  We  object  not  to 
the  color  of  the  skin,  but  we  question  their  possession  of  those  qua- 
lities which  would  render  their  intercourse  with  the  members  of  a 
Church  Convention  useful  or  agreeable,  even  to  tliemselves.  We 
should  make  the  same  objections  to  persons  of  the  same  social  class, 
however  pure  may  be  tlieir  blood,  or  however  transparent  their 
skin.  It  is  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  such  opposites 
should  commingle  wi'h  any  pleasure  or  satisfaction  to  either.  The 
colored  people  have  themselves  shown  their  conviction  of  this  truth, 
bv  separating  themselves  from  the  wliites,  and  forming  distinct  con- 
gregations where  they  are  not  continually  humbled  by  being  treated 
as  inferiors.  Why  should  not  tire  principle  ou  which  they  have  se- 
parated themselves  be  carried  out  in  the  other  branches  of  our  Church 
organization? 

Striking  instances  are  furnished  in  the  early,  and  indeed  in  every 
period  of  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church,  of  conformity  in  out- 
ward things,  and  in  matters  not  essential,  to  the  customs,  usages, 
and  eveu  prejudices  of  the  age.     We  have  in  our  own  country  in- 


L 


350  APPENDIX. 

veterate  customs  and  prejudices,  on  the  subject  under  consideration, 
■which  cannot  be  overcome.  Is  it  not  the  part  of  wisdom  to  submit 
to  them  until,  by  a  change  of  circumstances,  the  occasion  for  them 
shall  cease  to  exist  ?  Would  not  our  })reseiit  duty  to  this  unfortu- 
nate race,  be  fully  performed  by  extended  and  liberal  efforts  to  im- 
prove their  mind  and  their  condition  by  intellectual  culture,  by  reli- 
gious instruction,  and  as  they  advance  in  intelligence  and  refinement, 
by  relaxing  the  severities  of  caste,  which  now  separate  us,  until  by 
degrees  they  become  fitted  for  the  duties  and  enjoyments  of  a  higher 
social  condition ;  and  then  admit  them,  in  our  jiublic  and  private 
intercourse,  to  free  and  equal  communion. 

The  efforts  of  zealous  philanthropists  to  break  down  the  barriers 
which  custom  has  interposed,  and  which  have  so  long  existed  between 
the  colored  and  other  races,  and  against  the  laws  of  society,  and  the 
sentiments  and  feelings  of  tlie  community,  to  compel  an  unnatural 
and  forced  equality,  have  hitherto  been  attended  with  results  equally 
unfortunate  to  the  peculiar  objects  of  their  solicitude,  and  to  tlie 
great  interests  and  beneficieiit  institutions,  in  connection  with  which 
such  efforts  have  been  made.  They  have  been  directed  to  our  com- 
mon schools  ;  and  not  satisfied  with  the  abundant  provision  which 
has,  in  many  places,  been  made  for  the  education  of  colored  children, 
their  special  friends  and  advocates  have  insisted  that  they  should  be 
admitted  to  the  schools  of  white  childien,  and  have  thus  caused  dis- 
sensions and  conflict  to  the  great  injury  of  those  institutions,  while 
fee'ings  of  sympathy  and  commiseration  have  been  too  frequently 
converted  into  disgust  and  anger. 

Efforts  of  a  similar  cliai'acter,  and  for  the  same  purpose,  have 
been  made  to  give  position  in  oir  Churches  to  colored  people,  which 
would  compel  association  and  intercourse  with  them.  It  is  obvious 
tliat  tiiich  movements  are  but  incipient  steps  to  ulterior  objects  in 
relation  to  tlie  vexed  and  irritating  s\ib;cct  of  slavery.  Beginning 
with  simple  and  apparently  jnst  propositions  respecting  the  abstract 
rights  of  this  portion  of  our  populaiion,  their  professed  friends  and 
advocates  have  advanced,  step  by  step,  until  they  have  prepared  the 
way  to  agitate  the  bold  question  of  the  Christian  character  of  those 
wliose  sentiments  do  not  accord  with  their  own.  The  rending  as- 
under of  Churches — the  disrnption  of  societies — bitter  ani.mosities, 
and  all  manner  of  uncharitableness,  have  been  tlie  invariable  results. 

Bv  the  wise  and  prude.it  counsels  of  the  Fathers  of  our  Church, 
our  dfnomt nation  ! !  has  been  liitherCo  happily  free  from  the  agita- 
tion of  these  and  kindred  questions — such  as  temperance,  or  absti- 
nence from  liquors  and  wine — and  the  consequences  have  been  peace 
and  quiet  among  ourselves,  and  the  res]-iect  of  others.  An  instance 
of  this  cnution  is  furnished  in  the  case  of  St.  Philip's  Ciiurch,  whose 
application  to  be  represented  in  tlie  Convention  is  now  under  con- 
sideration. It  appears  from  the  minutes  of  the  Standing  Committee 
of  this  diocese,  that  in  March,  1819,  on  the  application  of  the  lamented 
Bishop  Hobart  to  that  committee  for  advice  in  relation  to  the  admis- 
sion of  a  colored  person  as  a  candidate  for  Holy  Orders,  they  unani- 


-^ 


J 


/ 


c 


APPEXDIX.  3dl 


inously  advised  his  admission,  upon  the  distinct  understanding,  that 
in  the  event  of  his  being  admitted  to  Orders,  he  should  not  "  be  en- 
titled to  a  seat  in  the  convention,  nor  the  congregation  of  which  he 
may  liave  charge,  to  a  representation  therein."  It  is  understood 
that  tliese  conditions  were  approved  by  the  bi'shop,  and  were  as- 
sented to  by  the  applicant  and  the  congregation.  And  altliough 
that  church  has  been  organized,  and  in  existence  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  it  has,  until  now,  abided  by  the  terms  thus 
settled.  The  present  applic.uits,  it  is  jiresuined,  were  not  aware 
of  t]ie<e  arrangements,  as  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  tliat  they  would  in- 
tentionally be  guilty  of  a  violation  of  good  taith.  Thus,  for  this  long 
period,  has  this  question  been  actually  and  peaceably  settled,  and 
remained  undisturbed. 

The  legal,  moral,  and  equitable  right  of  the  convention  to  deter- 
mine what  churches  it  will  admit  into  union,  so  as  to  entitle  them  to 
a  representation  in  this  body,  seems  to  your  committee  unquestion- 
able. The  fourth  canon  provides  certain  indispensable  conditions  to 
entitle  any  churcli  to  admission — but  no  wliere  is  it  declared  that 
these  are  the  only  conditions — and  the  invariable  practice  of  the 
convention  in  taking  the  vote  upon  the  admission  of  any  church, 
shows  that  it  has  reserved  to  itself  the  right  of  judging  of  the  expe- 
diency of  the  measure,  after  all  the  former  requisites  are  complied 
with.  Otherwise  the  report  of  the  committee,  certifying  to  the  fact 
of  such  compliance,  would  be  in  itself  conclusive.  The  provision  in 
the  same  canon,  requiring  the  preliminary  approbation  of  the  bi- 
shop or  of  the  standing  committee  "  of  the  incorporation  of  such 
church,"  relates  only  to  the  separate  and  independent  existence  of 
the  congregation  as  a  corporate  boily,  and  not  to  its  union  with  or 
representation  in  this  convention. 

Besides,  the  very  requirements  of  the  canon, — that  churches  shall 
be  politically  incorporated,  before  admission  into  union  with  the 
Convention,  shows  conclusively  that  the  right  of  admission  is  subject 
to  regulation,  and  therefore  that  such  qticstion  is  one  purely  of  ex- 
pediency, and  not  one  of  Christian  privilege  or  right. 

Cases  may  easily  be  conceived,  and  such  have  actually  occurred, 
■where  it  would  not  ordy  be  highly  inexpedient,  but  grossly  unjust  to 
existing  churches,  to  admit  into  imion  new  applicants.  \''arious 
circumstances,  more  or  less  important,  will  necessarily  enter  into  the 
consideration  of  the  convention  in  determining  such  a  question. 

In  the  short  time  allowed  the  committee  to  consider  the  subject, 
and  lo  express  their  views,  thev  have  been  unable  to  give  such  a  full 
exhibition  of  all  the  considerations  which  present  themselves  as  they 
would  have  desired.  They  think,  however,  that  they  have  said 
enough  to  cause  reflection,  and  to  show  how  full  of  difficulty  would 
be  the  adoption  of  the  principle  in  relation  to  St.  Philip's  Church,  or 
any  other  colored  congregation,  of  admitting  their  representatives  to 
seats  in  this  Convention.  If  once  here  they  would  be  entitled  to  all 
the  consideration,  and  to  participate  in  all  the  duties  and  stations  to 
which  members  may  be  assigned,  or  we  shall  practically  repudiate 


V 


352  APPENDIX. 


^ 


the  principle  which  admitted  them.  It  is  not  believed  that  this  coO' 
vention,  for  instance,  would  send  one  of  them  as  a  deputy  to  the 
General  Convention,  on  account  of  the  offence  it  would  occasion  to 
our  brethren  of  other  dioceses.  Thus,  their  condition  would  be  prac- 
tically and  continually  one  of  inferiority  and  humiliation — more  pain- 
fally  aggravated  by  the  expectation  induced  by  an  act  which  appar- 
ently promised  their  perfect  equality.  Your  committee  do  not  believe 
that  s\ich  an  equality  can  be  produced — that  in  the  nature  of  tliins^s 
it  can  exist  in  this  community— -great  and  palpable  inequality  must 
prevail  to  the  extent  of  preventing  tlni  colored  race  from  any  active 
participation  in  our  Church  government — and  they  believe  tliat  an 
attempt  to  correct  it,  contrary  to  tlie  feelings  and  customs  of  our 
country,  would  not  only  be  abortive,  but  woultl  be  attentled  with 
the  worst  consequences  to  our  unity,  our  lia'inony.  and  our  efficiency. 
They,  therefore,  reconuuend  that  neither  St.  Pl\ilip"s,  nor  any  other 
colored  congregation,  be  atiniitted  into  union  witli  this  Convention, 
so  as  to  entitle  them  to  a  repre-entatinn  therein.  Tiie  consequence 
of  such  a  determination  probably  will  be,  tliat  such  Cliurclies  and 
congregations  will  not  be  responsible  to,  or  under  tlie  government  or 
control  of  this  convention,  but  will  remain  suljject  to  the  ordinary 
jurisdiction  of  their  bishop — and  when  their  members  become  ade- 
quate, may  have  church  councils  of  their  own  for  their  own  peculiar 
government. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

Wm.  H.  Harison, 
Reuben  Sherwood, 
J.  C.  Spencer. 
Kew-York,  Oct.  2,  1846. 
This  report  was  never  submitted  to  the   Coinmittee  at  all.     The 
minority  report  was  drawn  up  without  a  knowledge  of  what  the 
majority  report  would  contain.     Its  author    hardly  need  say  that 
this  is  entirely  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  "Communion  of  Saints," 
and  to  tlie  exercise  of  those  Christian  graces  which  a  belief  of  it  im- 
poses upon  the  members  of  the  Catholic  Church.     Tiie  following  is 
the  mmority  report. 


MINORITY  REPORT:   ST.  PHILIP'S  CHURCH. 

The  undersigned,  a  minority  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  this 
Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Diocese  of 
New-York,  tocon-ider  the  application  of  St.  Philip's  Cliurch  in  this 
city,  to  be  admitted  into  communion  with  this  Convention,  do  here- 
by Report : 

Tliat  they  regret  exceedingly  to  be  obliged  to  differ  from  the 
majority  of  said  Committee.  They  do  not  make  this  report  with  a 
view  of  exciting  or  encouraging  any  discussion  in  this  Convention  of 


\  APPENDIX.  353 

topics,  in  no  way  connected  with  the  subject  of  this  application. 
About  thirty  years  ago,  a  congregation  of  colored  people  was  organi- 
zed in  this  city  as  an  Episcopal  Church,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
Episcopal  Authority  of  this  Uiocese.  It  has  continued  since  to  con- 
form to  the  doctrines,  worship,  and  usages  of  this  Church  most  uni- 
formly and  constantly.  It  now  asks  to  be  admitted  to  enjoy  what 
its  members  consider  to  be  the  privileges  which  other  Churches  have, 
of  being  received  into  the  full  fellowsliip  of  tlieir  Christian  brethren, 
by  aihnission  to  this  Convention.  The  minority  of  your  Committee 
do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that,  ahhough  at  the  time  of  the  organizing  of 
this  cungregation,  it  was  thought  to  be  a  wise  and  salutary  measure, 
yet  in  their  opinion,  subsequent  events  should  lead  us  to  doubt  the 
propriety  or  expediency  of  such  organization. 

It  is  now  too  late  to  undo,  in  this  particular,  what  has  been  done. 
The  minority  of  your  Committee  can  see  no  reason  why  this  appli- 
cation sliould  not  be  granted,  and  think  there  are  special  reasons 
why  it  should. 

It  is  said  that  it  was  stipulated  on  the  part  of  individuals  of  that 
congregation  at  the  time  of  its  organization,  or  before  the  ordination 
of  the  late  pious  and  reverend  Mr.  Williams,  that  they  would  not 
apply  for  admission  into  this  Convention.  This  we  believe  thrij  did 
not  do ;  but  we  cannot  conceive  how  the  present  generation,  belong- 
ing to  that  Church,  can  be  bound  by  any  stipulation  of  that  kind, 
made  by  those  who,  we  trust,  have  long  smce  departed  hence  in  the 
Lord,  and  been  received  into  communion  with  the  saints  in  Para-» 
dise.  The  present  members  of  tliat  Church  do  not  think  as  their 
fathers  did  on  that  subject.  It  mav  be  .said  that  if  this  Church  be 
admitted,  others  will  be  organized  and  apply  for  admission.  How- 
ever much  this  is  to  be  regretted,  yet  we  suppose  such  will  be  the 
fact,  and  on  this  very  account,  this  subject  merits  the  very  serious  con- 
sideration of  this  Convention.  Suppose  Churches,  now  to  be  com- 
posed of  colored  people  exclusively,  are  organized  in  our  principal 
cities — suppose  they  are  refused  equal  Christian  privileges  with 
other  Episcopal  Churches — that  the  Conventions  of  our  Dioceses 
refuse  to  take  thenj  under  their  charge,  and  into  their  fellowship — 
will  not  these  Churches  unite  and  form  a  Convention  of  their  own  ? 
Will  they  not  choose  a  IJishop  or  Bishops  of  their  own  ?  And  under 
such  circumstances,v:oa\d  they  find  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  Apos- 
tolical succession  ?  We  fear  the  refusal  of  our  Convention  to  admit 
into  their  fellowship  this  portion  of  their  Christian  brethren,  will 
inevitably  lead  to  a  schism  in  the  Clun-ch,  by  the  establishment  of 
another  Episcopal  Church  in  these  United  States.  All  must  admit 
this  would  be  a  sore  evil. 

The  minority  of  your  Committee  beg  the  Convention  to  pause 
before  they  take  a  step  which  may  lead  to  such  a  disastrous 
result. 

It  may  well  be  asked,  Can  it  be  that  because  those  who  seek 
admission  here  are  of  a  different  race  and  complexion  from  ourselves, 
tliat  doubts  are  entertained  of  the  expediency  of  admitting  them  to 


354  APPENDIX. 


\ 


union  'with  this  Convention  ?  Have  they  not  the  Bible  for  their 
guide  ?  Do  they  read  in  it  that  its  divine  precepts,  its  universal 
charity,  its  promised  rewards,  are  limited  to  any  race  or  nation  ? 
"Was  not  the  Gospel  vouchsafed  to  all  men,  to  be  proclaimed  to  all 
nations  ? 

The  minority  of  your  Committee  expressly  disavow  any  other 
motive  in  thus  recommend! I'y'  the  admission  of  this  Church,  than 
that  of  promoting  peace  and  harmony,  and  carrying  out  into  prac- 
tice the  great  Catholic  doctrine  of  intercommunion  of  saints,  as 
taught  in  the  Bible,  the  word  of  God.  These  persons  who  apply 
for  this  fellowship  have  been  made,  in  Holy  Baptism,  "  members  of 
Christ,  children  of  Gi:)d,  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven" — 
they  "  eat  his  flesh  and  drink  his  blood,"  and  thus  are  incorporated 
into  Him  ;  with  us,  they  are  one  with  Hun,  and  He  is  one  witli  them. 
However  just  and  proper  distinctions  in  society  ma}'  be  in  other 
respects,  yet  as  members  of  one  Holy  Catholic  Church,  there  ought 
to  be  no  other  distinction  than  that  made  by  superior  self-denial, 
holiness  and  virtue. 

Tiie  minority  of  your  Committee  would  deprecate  most  ear- 
nestly any  prolonged  or  excited  discussions  of  this  subject,  or  the 
introduction  of  questions  not  necessarily  connected  with  it,  and 
recommend  that  this  Church  be  admitted  into  union  with  this  Con- 
vention. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 
•  Evan  M.  Johnson, 

John  A.  King. 
JSfew-Yorh,  Oct.  2^1846. 

Had  the  author  of  this  last  report  been  permitted  to  know  the 
contents  of  the  former,  he  would  have  corrected  some  of  its  mis- 
statements and  called  special  attention  to  some  of  its  stranrje  posi- 
tio?is.  He  will  endeavor  to  do  this  now.  It  is  not  true,  that  this 
question  "is  wholly  uncoiniected  witli  the  religious  rights  or  duties 
of  the  applicants,"  or  tliat  our  Conventions  are  "civil  machinery."  I 
ask,  who  elects  our  Bishop  ?  Who  elects  the  delegates  to  our  Gene- 
ral Convention  ?  All  the  rites  of  the  Church  and  its  liturgy  may  l>e 
changed,  or  modified  by  tiiis  body — doctrines  set  forth  and  duties 
prescribed  by  these,  the  Bishops  and  Conventions  ;  and  yet  we  are 
told,  in  this  report,  that  our  Convention  is  only  to  regulate  "the 
Society"  and  is  like  the  Pmliament  in  England  in  resjject  to  the 
Church  in  England.  Had  it  been  said  that  our  State  Conventions 
were  like  the  Provincial  Synods  of  Great  Britain,  tliis  would  have 
been  true.  I  ask  if  the  Bishops,  in  the  West  Indies,  were  to  call  a 
meeting  of  a  Provincial  Synod,  is  it  probable  tliat  they  would  call 
only  the  white  clergymen  of  their  Dioceses? 

One  would,  from  tliis  report,  think  that  this  application  for  ad- 
mission was  from  the  females  of  St.  Philip's  Church.  This  is  not 
true.  I  suppose  the  females  of  that  congregation  wish  to  be  repre- 
sented as  other  females  are,  by  their  fathers,  and  liusbauds,  and 
brothers. 


f 


APPENDIX.  355 

"We  hardly  know  what  to  say  to  this.  "  We  object  not  to  the 
color  of  the  skin,  but  we  question  their  possession  of  those  qualities 
wliich  would  rendsr  their  intercourse  with  tiie  members  of  a  Church 
Convention  useful  or  agreeable,  oven  to  themselves."  What  quali- 
ties are  here  meant?  Do  none  of  them  possess  those  "qualities" 
which  our  Saviour  recognizes  in  them  as  all  sufficient  to  make 
them  members  of  His  body  ?  They  may  have  these,  but  these  are 
not  the  qualities  which  they  must  have  to  belong  to  a  C'hurch 
Convention.  I  am  glad  it  is  said  a  Church  and  not  the  Church  Con- 
vention. 

I  have  striven  in  vain  to  reconcile  the  following  passage  with 
other  parts  of  this  report  and  with  the  rejection  of  this  C'hurch 
which  it  reconnnends,  "  Would  not  our  present  duty  to  this  unfortu- 
nate race  be  fully  performed  by  extended  and  liberal  efforts  to 
improve  their  mind  and  condition,  by  intellectual  culture,  by  reli- 
gious instruction,  and,  as  they  advance  in  intelligence  and  retine- 
nient,  by  relaxing  the  severities  of  caste,  which  now  separate  us, 
until,  by  degrees,  they  become  fitted  for  the  duties  and  enjoyments 
of  a  higher  social  condition,  and  then,  admit  them  in  our  pnblic  and 
private  intercourse,  to  free  and  equal  communion  ?"  I  answer  to 
this  question,  yes,  it  would  be — and  the  best  time  to  begin  to  dis- 
chnrge  this  duty  is,  now:  and  by  rejecting  the  recommendation  of 
this  majority  report,  convince  our  brethren  that  our  intention  is  sin- 
cere and  not  a  mere  profession  of  words. 

When  the  author  of  the  minority  report  wrote  of  the  possibility, 
if  this  Church  were  rejected,  of  the  establishment  of  another  Church, 
he  did  not  know  that  the  very  thing  itself  would  be  recommended 
by  the  majority. 

"  The  consequence  of  such  a  determination  (to  refuse  admit- 
tance) probably  will  be,  that  such  Churches  and  congregations  will 
not  be  responsible  to,  or  under  the  government  or  control  of  this 
Convention,  but  will  remain  subject  to  the  ordinary  jurisdiction  of 
their  Bishop — and  when  their  members  become  adequate,  may 
have  Church  Councils  of  their  own  for  their  own  peculiar  govern- 
ment," (and  of  course  Bishops.)  Here  is  a  positive  and  direct 
recommendatiiin  to  destroy  the  unity  of  the  Church,  rather,  than  to 
adopt  the  trahiing  process  recommended  in  the  former  extract.  I 
can  only  say  that  if  the  Convention  of  New-York  adopt,  as  their 
own,  the  sentiments  advocated  in  this  report  and  the  measure 
recommended  by  it,  they  niav  boast  themselves  as  much  as  they 
please,  of  their  adherence  to  Catholic  truth,  and  speak  of  the  sacri- 
fices they  are  called  to  make  for  their  defence  of  it ;  the  whole 
Catholic  Church  will  give  them  little  credit  for  their  consistency  or 
orthodoxy.  Some  time  during  the  last  year,  in  the  State  of  Indiana, 
a  newspaper  controversy  was  carried  on  in  opposition  \n  and  in 
defence  of  the  Church.  It  was  argued  by  the  Church  opponents, 
that  by  this  very  report  wiiich  was  quoted,  the  Episcopal  Church 
did  not  desire  or  expect  common  people  to  belong  to  it — that  it  was 
for  those  who  thought  themselves  select  members  of  Society.     Let 


356  APPENDIX. 

US  hope  and  pray  that  our  brethren  of  the  Laity,  will  not  be 
alarmed  at  the  cry  of  "Abolitionism,"  or  any  other  "ism;"  but  will 
strive  to  disarm  themselves  of  prejudice  and  will  pray  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church,  to  preserve  them  from  giving  just  cause  of 
complaint  to  any,  even  the  iveakest,  the  most  oppressed,  or  the  most 
despised  of  their  fellow  Christians,  who  are,  Avith  them,  members  of 
the  one  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  in  the  world,  which  is,  and 
which  is  to  come. 


i 


B.    Slaveuy    Exten'sion. — The    Christian    Philanthropist    will 
rejoice  that  public  attention  is  now  distinctly  turned  to  this  sub- 
ject.    It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Mexican  States,  when  they 
threw  off  the  Spanish  j'oke  and  declared  themselves  free  and  inde- 
pendent, did,  with  far  more  consistency  than  these  States,  abolisli 
slavery  absolutely   and    wholly.      When   tlie   adventurers,   mostly 
from  the  slave  States  of  this  Union,  took  possession  of  the  State  of 
Texas,   they   re-established   slavery  where   it  had  for  many  years 
ceased  to  exist.     It  was  admitted  to  this  Union  as  slave  territory. 
The  operation  of  this,  politically,  is,  that  in  Texas  two  while  votes 
are  as  good  as  five  in   New -York,  and   the  same   laws  by  which 
slavery    is    enforced   in    our   slave    States    are   in  operation   there. 
Indeed  it  was   openly  declared   to   be  one   principal  object  in  re- 
ceiving Texas  into  this  Union,  to  obtain  a  market  for  human  beings 
and  to  extend  the  area  of  slave  territory.     We  have  now  in  effect 
conquered  New   Mexico  and  California.     At   present  there  are,  in 
these  States,  no  slaves.     Tiie  questions  now  are,  sliall   slavery  be 
again  establi-hed  tiiere,  or  shall  it  not?     Shall  this  great  region  be 
settled  by  freemen  wholly  or  by  slaves  atid  their  masters  ?     Shall 
those  severe  and  cruel  laws  under  which  so  many  millions  of  men, 
and  women,  and  children   now  suffer,  be  extended   over  this  terri- 
tory, or  shall  it  be  subjected  to   but  one  system  of  laws  and  those 
for    freeinen?     As   a  political    question,   would    any  one    suppose, 
that  a  single,  individual   in  these  norlhern   States,  who   calls  him- 
self a  Republican,  in  any  sense  of  the  term,  would  either  advocate 
this  extension  or  fail  to  do  every  thing  in  his   power,  by  liis  influ- 
ence, by   his  vote,  by  his   voice,  and   by  his   pen  to   hinder  such  a 
lasting  evil  and  disgrace  from   being  brought  upon  his   country  ? 
Thank  God,  as  a   party,  the   pro-slavery   party  are  few  in  lunnber 
and  becoming  still    fewer  in    influence.      If  worldly-minded  poli- 
ticians at  the  North  are   found  who  oppose  this  extension  simply 
from  political   motives,  I  ask  where   are   the  Christian   clergy   at 
the   South  ?     What  are   they  doing  ?     Has  one  of  them   raised  a 
voice  against  the   extension  of  slavery  ?     Suppose  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul    were,  at   this   time.  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  would  he  see 
thousands    and    thousands    of    his    fellow    men    and    Christians, 
marched   in  chains  to  perpetual  slavery  in  Texas,  and    not   raise 
his  voice  in  opposition  ?     Would  he  see  an  immense  addition  to 


J 


APPENDIX.  357 

this  country  in  his  immediate  neighborhood,  acquired  on  purpose 
to  plant  the  worst  of  slavery  and  to  establish  the  severest  slave 
Liws  that  ever  existed,  and  remain  silent  ?  Oh !  may  a  spirit  like 
his  be  stirred  up  in  the  breast  of  every  Prelate  and  every  Clergy- 
man, that  whetner  it  cause  them  to  be  persecuted  even  unto  death 
or  not,  they  may  fearlessly  proclaim  their  opposition  to  every  law, 
and  every  practice,  and  every  custom,  inconsistent  with  the  cordial 
reception  of  the  doctrine  of"  Communion  of  Saints"  and  the  discharge 
of  those  duties  which  it  enjoins. 


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BX5880  .W66 

A  history  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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